Always and Forever His
by thingsareweird
Summary: What if Simba and Nala grew up in two different rival prides? What if both of them had responsibilities that would never cross with each other. Follow Simba and Nala as they are bought together by fate in this epic love story as they battle through love, loss, hope and heartbreak to truly see if they have what it takes to have true love. Read and review to find out.
1. Chapter 1

**So I'm back with my latest story, "Always and Forever His". This will kind of be an alternate universe story but I don't know to what degree. Before you read, I recommend that you read my other stories; (especially Lion King with a Twist) because that way, you will know more about the characters, but this story is not a sequel to it or anything. Reading my other stories will just give you a better understanding and feeling about the other characters. Also, for those of you who have read my other story, "Peace At Last", I kind of want to bring the characters from that into this story because I feel terrible about just giving up on that story. Just another reminder that I don't own Lion King, Disney does. **

**Anyways, here's chapter one and please review.**

A young lioness bent down in the tall savannah grass, creeping forward towards her target. The zebra was unaware of her approaching. Inching closer to her kill, the lioness jumped out and roared startling the creature. The zebra kicked out its hind legs and sprinted away from her as fast as possible. The lioness began the chase as the rest of her hunting party jumped out of their hiding spots and joined her.

"Chase it towards Kula!" Tama cried and she and Nala cornered on the panicked zebra as Shari jumped out and gave the final chase towards Kula. The dark brown lioness pounced out of her hiding place and took the zebra down.

"Nice catch!" Nala smiled approaching her hunting party. "Let's take it back to Riverside."

The others nodded and let the Princess take the kill and they helped her drag it back home. They broke through the bushes and set the kill in front of the caves.

Nala nodded to the young cubs and adolescents who were playing in the shade of the trees. Among them were her younger brothers, Hofu and Mheetu.

"Eat up!" Shari said giving the cubs a smile and the older lionesses went into the den.

After a tiring hunt, Nala was glad to be able to rest in the caves without the sounds of cubs playing. Their home, the caves was located next to the might river that divided the land. The caves had been there for generations and generations. As a cub, she had been told that the caves had once been separate except for a few crevices and gaps and her great-great grandparents and other Pride members had carved through the crevices until they had been big enough to be entrances and now the caves were all connected letting the Pride have one big den and a few smaller private dens of their own.

After a few minutes Nala looked up to see her mother, the Queen of the River Pride walk in. Sarafina smiled and settled down next to her daughter and gave her a nuzzle.

"I can see that the hunt was a success," Sarafina said.

"It was," Nala nodded. "I was with my group and it went fine." Sarafina nodded and mother and daughter chatted until Nala's father, King Runju walked into the den. The Pride lionesses and the few males nodded at their King and Runju returned their gestures before settling down next to his mate and daughter.

"Anything wrong?" Sarafina asked, studying her mate's face.

"No," Runju said. "I was just thinking. The Pride has a bit too many females and soon all of them will be at mating age and I don't think we can expand our Pride as much as this. We're slowly losing our herds as well."

"Wait," Nala said. "Does this mean that we'll have to leave?"

Runju looked at her, "You're the Princess, Nala. You don't have to but I'm afraid that some of your friends may have to."

"Daddy please don't make them leave," Nala pleaded. "They've been there for me ever since I can remember and I can't-"

"Nala," Runju said gently. "As your father I don't want to, but as the King I have to. This is a natural part of lion society. When a Pride gets too big, members must leave. This has been happening since lions first existed. It's nothing out of the ordinary."

Nala sighed and closed her eyes. Runju tried nuzzling her but Nala pushed his affection away and walked out of the den. The sun had already set and the stars were beginning to come out. Unlike most other nights, Nala didn't feel like enjoying the sight. Her heart ached knowing that in a few months she would have to say good bye to her friends. She knew that not all of them would leave but she feared that they would. Nala didn't quite understand how Runju chose which lionesses stay and which would would leave. He had tried explaining how he had to choose by family group, hunting skills, how long their family had been in the Pride and many other things, but Nala hadn't really gained much out of his explanation. All she had managed to get out of it was that her friends had a good chance that they were leaving.

After a few minutes the Princess went back into the caves to join her Pride.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

North of the river lived another Pride ruled by King Mufasa. Their land was opposite of the river, marking their boundaries with the River Pride. Although their lands were close to each other, Pridelander and the Riverside lions were rival Prides. Although Nala and the rest of the younger generation didn't know why, along with the younger generation of Pridelanders, the adults knew but didn't seem to be eager to explain to them.

In the Pridelands, the crown prince of the Pridelands, Prince Simba walked out of the den bright and early and down to the waterhole to get a drink. After quenching his thirst, he made his way back up to Priderock to see his brother, Akila and his friends, Moraan, Chumvi, Tojo, Alex and Amri waiting for him.

"Let's go on the patrol and finish it now Simba," Akila said. "It'll be easier."

"Alright let's go," Simba said and the males went to the northern border. It was an easy patrol since it was the river and the view made everything much clearer.

The males chatted and joked around until they reached the river. They immediately quieted down and got to work knowing that they would get punished if the patrol wasn't done properly.

About halfway through, Moraan looked up. "I can see the River Pride lionesses."

Simba looked up and saw four or five lionesses in the distance getting ready for a hunt. A creamy colored lioness with tanned fur took the lead. Even from such a huge distance away, Simba could see her sapphire blue eyes. For a minute he was locked in her gaze as she looked at him intensely. For some reason, Simba had to bite his lip to keep from smiling. They were from rival Prides yet this lioness didn't seem to be scared to challenge him.

By now the other lionesses had noticed her staring and all the males had noticed Simba looking at the creamy lioness with tanned fur.

"Hey isn't that the King's daughter?" Tojo asked. "What's her name, Ala? Mana?"

"I overheard Dad saying that her names Nala." Akila spoke up. "She's the King oldest daughter but not the heir to the throne."

"Why not?" Chumvi asked.

"She has two younger brothers that are supposed to rule." Akila said.

"It kind of hard to see why our Prides hate each other. I mean they haven't waged war on us and I doubt they did during our parents' younger time." Amri said thoughtfully.

"Doesn't matter," Simba said. "We have nothing to do with those lionesses. We're from rival Prides and it will always be that way."

"Come on," Alex said. "We're finished here. Let's go back home. I think your father has some kind of announcement to make."

Simba nodded at his cousin and the three of them made their way back to Priderock. Already most of the Pride had gathered. Simba looked at the Pride that he would soon rule. During the past few years, their Pride had dwindled in numbers considerably and he knew that it was a problem to his father and soon would be a problem to him.

Mufasa was at the head of the group and waited until his two sons joined him. A little way off, Simba and Akila's mother, Sarabi was standing with the other lionesses. Her youngest cub, Ajjali was standing in between her legs as Sarabi bent down and softly talked to her.

Once everyone was assembled, Mufasa began to speak.

"As everyone knows, my oldest son Simba will be taking the throne soon with my other son, Akila as his second in command." Mufasa said, looking at both of his sons with proudness. "Every King needs a mate. After a lot of thought and discussion Sarabi and I chose the most promising mate for our future King."

Simba tensed. He knew that his parents would be arranging a marriage for him and he was anxious to know who it was. He didn't mind that his parents were choosing for him. The Pride was lacking young females and Simba didn't have much of a choice. There was Shinda, Tojo's twin sister but he knew that Alex and she were already together. He was friends with their younger sister, Shani but that was all. And they also had a younger half- sister, Malaika but he knew that his brother had fallen head over heels for her. Other than them, there were only a few suitable lionesses, none that Simba was interested in. And Simba knew that one of his responsibilities as King was mating with a lioness that was fit to be the Queen.

"Simba," Mufasa said looking at him. "Your future Queen and mate is…Ariya!"

Simba tried not to wince and then scanned through the Pride for Ariya. She stepped out of the gathering of lions as her Pride mates congratulated her on her engagement. Ariya had rusty brown fur and brown eyes. Ariya herself looked quite pleased as she stepped up next to him.

"Congratulations you two," Mufasa smiled. "Your mating ceremony will be taking place in a few weeks."

''Simba," Ariya said, giving him a nudge after everyone was gone. "Let's go for a walk together."

Simba shrugged, "Alright." With that, the pair made their way down Priderock.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

A few days later back in the River Pride, Nala was returning from another hunt with her friends when she saw her father approaching her and the rest of her friends.

"Any luck?" Runju asked.

"No," Shari said, dipping her head. "The herds were far and we couldn't catch them."

"It's alright," Runju said. "Nala, we have to talk. The rest of you head back to Riverside." The lionesses nodded and walked off and Nala stayed behind with her father.

"So what do you want to talk about?" Nala asked.

Runju sighed, "You know that the number of herds were have are dwindling in numbers."

Nala nodded, "Yes I can see it while I'm hunting."

Runju nodded, "Nala as the royals, we have responsibilities to keep our Pride and territory safe. As Princess you also have a responsibility even if your brothers are the heirs."

"What do I have to do?" Nala asked. She was willing to do anything to keep her Pride safe.

Runju looked at her with serious eyes, "We need more land and herds. I made a bargain with King Asante of the eastern kingdom. He is willing to give us a portion of his territory and herds since he has one of the biggest kingdoms around. The amount he is willing to give us is more than enough."

"What was the deal?" Nala asked.

"The deal was that you have to marry his youngest son." Runju said looking at her with worried eyes as Nala's face was struck with shock.

"You didn't even ask me!" Nala exclaimed.

"I know," Runju said. "But I couldn't wait. He needs a mate for his youngest son, Thresh and I didn't want to risk losing that opportunity."

Nala sighed but she knew it was her responsibility. Besides, she wasn't interested in any males of their Pride.

"It's alright Dad." Nala said. "I understand. It's my responsibility."

Runju smiled and the two of them made their way back to the caves.

**Hope you enjoyed and please review. Feel free to leave and comments, questions or suggestions in a review. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter two and please review.**

**Thank you to CSIMentalistTLK lover, gary2000, AMBER, Asaf, CasperJames and Doclover for reviewing the last chapter. I really loved them.**

**Also to CasperJames: If I do get time, I will write about the OC's. But the best way to know about them is by reading Lion King with A Twist which is my first story. I have to admit that the first couple chapters of it are really bad because it was my first story but reading it will give you a good idea on the characters. Although some characters will be different here and there. **

A few days later, Nala, Sarafina, Runju along with Mheetu and Hofu were getting ready to head out to the eastern kingdom to meet with King Asante and his family. Nala waited as her father talked to rest of the Pride, telling them that they would be back in a few hours and that Aran, Shari's father was in charge while they were gone.

Finally the family began heading to the eastern kingdom. Runju and Sarafina conversed while Hofu and Mheetu ran ahead playing.

"How come you're so quite Nala?" Mheetu asked trotting up to her. He looked up at Nala with curious emerald green eyes.

"I'm fine." Nala said. "I was just thinking."

Sarafina moved in closer to her. "Nala, if you really don't want to do this perhaps we can arrange something else. I know that-"

"Mom, its fine." Nala said. "It's my responsibility as the Princess." Nala didn't really mind that she would be marrying Thresh soon. There weren't any males in the Pride that interested her. She was a bit upset that she would have to leave the Pride but she reminded herself that her friends would have to leave and they wouldn't be welcome back while she would be welcome to visit anytime she wanted.

But she wondered if she would love Thresh. She knew that after getting used to living together, she would begin to love him but she wondered what true love would feel like. The type of love where she would fall in love with the lion that she wanted to be with.

"_Stop thinking that!"_ Nala thought to herself. _"True love exists only dreams and this is reality." _

She looked at her own mother and father. She knew that their marriage had been arranged but they had known each other since they were young. How would that change things? She only knew that King Asante had a son from the reports she had overheard her father talking about. Would she and Thresh someday have a big family of their own? How different would it be loving someone she had known since she was young? She wasn't interested in the males from her Pride although they had grown up together.

After a while they reached King Asante's kingdom. Hofu and Mheetu stopped playing around and walked in an orderly fashion. Nala was in between her parents while her brothers were at Runju's side.

She looked to see a light brown lion walking towards them with a few lionesses along with another lion with a brown mane and a light brown coat. He was smaller than the other male and Nala figured that it was Thresh.

"Runju, Sarafina." King Asante greeted with a friendly smile. "Welcome."

"Thank you Asante." Runju said. "It's been quite a while since we last visited."

"And my how they have grown," Queen Ashanti commented smiling at Nala and her brothers who returned her generous smile.

"Thresh," Asante motioned for his son to come forward beside him. Thresh did and he gave Nala a smile. "Welcome."

"Thank you Thresh." Nala said, dipping her head to him.

Another lioness and lion stepped forward, "These are my twin son and daughter, Saji and Riya. Saji is also my heir to the throne."

"Come," Ashanti said. "Let's talk more at our den." The adults headed forwards conversing with each other since it had been a while since they had last had a good visit. Nala felt out of place until Hofu and Mheetu came to her side and Nala nudged them forward. She felt someone at her side and she turned to see Thresh walking beside her.

They reached a big cave where the rest of the Pride was waiting for them and Nala felt a bit overwhelmed at her soon to be family. They looked friendly and greeted her with smiles that she returned. Her parents seemed to know everyone here and Hofu and Mheetu were already playing with some other cubs.

"Nala," Thresh said, giving her a nudge. "Let's take a walk. Just the two of us."

"Alright," Nala said and the two of them headed off.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLTLKTLK

Back in the Pridelands, Simba was returning to Priderock after spending the entire morning and beginning of afternoon with Tojo and Amri. They had been laughing and joking around until Amri and Tojo had to go on the patrol and Simba had returned back to Priderock.

"Simba?" Came a voice. It was Ariya.

"Hey," Simba said. Ariya nuzzled her nose against his cheek and Simba returned her gesture since he didn't want to hurt her feelings.

"I've been looking for you everywhere." Ariya said. "Where were you?"

"I was with Tojo and Amri. Were you hunting?" Simba asked and Ariya nodded.

"You should have seen what had happened during the hunt," Ariya said and proceeded onto to telling him what had happened. Simba listened although he wasn't quite interested in hunting. Deep inside, he knew that he wished he could truly find a lioness that he would fall in love with but he had told himself that those were only dreams and this was reality. Besides, that lioness definitely wasn't in their Pride and he knew it was his responsibility as the future King to marry a suitable lioness.

"Are you even listening?" Ariya asked and Simba snapped his attention back to her.

"Yeah I am." Simba said. "Sorry I just lost my attention. I was just thinking about how when I take the throne how I'm going to have to deal with everything." He didn't even want to think to tell Ariya what he had been really thinking of.

"You'll do fine," Ariya said the enthusiasm in her voice dropping slightly then went back up. "So we were near the border and we saw some lions from the River Pride."

"The River Pride?" Simba asked, suddenly interested in the conversation.

"Yeah," Ariya said. "We saw some of their males and females."

"They're Pride is way bigger than ours," Simba said. "We're really lacking young females and they are our Pride's future."

"Well they definitely don't lack females. They're Pride is full of them from what I heard." Ariya said. "I mean King Runju has a daughter our age. I think her name's Nala."

Simba remembered seeing Nala from the patrol. He could still clearly remember how her slender form moved through the grass ready to face anything. How her creamy tanned fur blended in perfectly with the long savannah grass and matched perfectly with her intense sapphire blue eyes.

They were rival Pride's for what reason Simba didn't know about and he was pretty sure that his parents and all the other adults only insisted on being rival Pride's was because of the earlier generations. Perhaps it was that way in the River Pride as well.

Although Simba couldn't deny that he and Nala hadn't met before.

_(Flashback to when Simba was a cub)_

_Simba was trotting through the Pridelands happy to be allowed to explore without a babysitter. His mother would have probably followed him but being three weeks pregnant with her next cub she had decided to let him go._

_Simba occupied himself with a grasshopper and chased it until he ran straight into a rock._

"_Ouch!" Simba grumbled, rubbing his nose. "If Alex saw he would never let me live it down."_

_He climbed onto the rock and his eyes went wide with surprise at the might river. He had been told not to go to the river saying that there were crocodiles in some parts of it but Simba wanted to see what crocodiles looked like. _

_With a mischievous grin Simba headed towards the river, looking around to make sure that there were no adults around. When he got there, Simba walked around until he found some stepping stones to help him get across. He suddenly saw a flash of creamy tanned fur and when he looked again he saw a cub with her back facing him. She was on the middle stepping stone._

"_Hey!" Simba called out. She didn't hear him so Simba stepped onto the first rock, then the second and third and carefully touched the cub._

_The lioness cub screamed and whirled around and jumped away from him._

"_Watch out!" Simba cried. "The river!"_

_It was too late. The creamy tanned cub fell into the river and Simba let out a surprised yell when he saw a muddy green body coming towards him._

"_Watch out!" Simba cried. "Crocodile!" He dived down and let the cub grab onto his paw and helped her back up._

"_Run!" The cub cried. "It's coming!"_

_She and Simba hurled across to the next stepping stone just as the crocodile clashed its massive jaws at them. They jumped onto the bank of the river both of them breathing heavily._

"_Wow," Simba breathed. "Who knew they were so big!"_

"_Yeah," The cub agreed. "I was looking for one too."_

_Simba smiled as he realized that they had the same ideas. "My names Simba."_

_The cub smiled at him. "I'm Nala."_

"_Is this your home?" Simba asked looking around. It was a lot like the Pridelands but he couldn't see a majestic rock to call home._

"_Yeah," Nala said. "You're from the other side of the river?"_

"_Yup," Simba said. "I am. I've always wanted to see what was on the other side."_

"_Come on," Nala insisted. "I'll show you around." Simba nodded and the two cubs went off making sure to stay well away from the adults._

_The two cubs had a wonderful time as Nala showed Simba around the Pridelands. They laughed and played around. Both of them realized that they had never had so much fun as they did with each other._

"_I should get going," Simba said. "It's almost time for the sun to set."_

"_You're going to visit again right?" Nala asked. "I'll bring my friends."_

"_Sure," Simba said. "And maybe you can come to our home."_

"_I would lo-" Nala began but she gasped looking over Simba.  
_

"_What is it?" Simba asked. Suddenly Mufasa burst out from behind him and roared at Nala. Simba yelped and jumped back as another lion with dark brown fur jumped out from the grass and roared back at Mufasa with equal power._

"_Runju," Mufasa breathed._

"_Mufasa," Runju growled. Sarafina, Afiya, Sarina and Kiona flanked him. Behind Mufasa were Sarabi, Penda, Danya and Kudeka._

_Nala looked at the scene with wide eyes. Mufasa and the other lionesses looked so angry. But she noticed Kudeka. Her eyes didn't hold anger like the others. Kudeka was looking at Nala like she was special to her. Nala wondered why. She didn't know the lionesses name or who she was. Nala wanted to go closer and get a better look but Sarafina grabbed her and held Nala between her paws ready to protect her at any costs._

''_How dare you show your face in my lands!" Runju snarled at Mufasa._

"_I dare because your daughter influenced my son against his better judgement!" Mufasa growled. "Zazu flew over your lands and saw her showing him around!"_

"_My daughter didn't have anything to do with this!" Runju hissed. "Your son is on my lands and therefore he committed the crime."_

"_Your daughter was also on by the river. Those are my lands," Mufasa snarled._

_Runju roared at Mufasa and he returned it. Both of them were ready to attack._

"_Mufasa," Sarabi stepped forward. "No matter what, the cubs are here. They didn't know about our…history. Both of them did something wrong therefore it's safe to call it even."_

_Beside Runju, Sarafina gave him a nudge telling him that she agreed with Sarabi._

"_Very well then," Runju said gruffly. "I will let this pass this once. For the sake of our cubs."_

"_Then we're finished here." Mufasa said and with another nod, he nudged Simba the other way and him and his lionesses left. Runju picked Nala up and the group headed back home._

_(End of flashback)_

Simba couldn't help but smile softly at the memory. He remembered how much fun he had had with Nala. Since that day he hadn't spoken to her and he doubted that she even remembered him. He had gotten in serious trouble from his parents and then had been told that they were rival Pride's. Since then, Simba hadn't wanted anything to do with the River Pride.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

A few days later back in the River Pride, Nala was getting ready for her first solo hunt. This was the biggest day in her life as a lioness and Nala was worried that she would fail. They are already slowly loosing herds in their territory and as the Princess she couldn't bear to come back without a kill.

Nala stepped out of the cave to see the rest of the Pride waiting for her. Sarafina and Runju were at the front, both of them looking at Nala with pride shining on their faces.

Nala stepped towards her mother and Sarafina pulled her into a comforting embrace. "You'll do just fine."

Runju nuzzled her, "Make us proud Nala."

"I will," Nala nodded and after getting the okay from her parents, she bounded off towards the hunting grounds.

A few hours passed and Nala was getting frustrated. She had to spend most of her time tracking the herds and it took a lot of energy out of her. That only made the chase harder and every time Nala tried, she failed.

She soon found herself at the river where the land divided into two territories. After taking a drink she looked around for a while before she froze. Ahead of her was an enormous overgrown male zebra feeding from the rich grass by the banks of the river. Nala smiled; if she caught this it would be the most successful solo hunt they had had in generations.

Nala crouched down and began stalking it. There were no alligators in this part of the river so she knew that it would be easier to lead it into the water. Nala got as close to the zebra as she could.

"_Timing is everything."_ Nala reminded herself and flexed her muscles. With an ear splitting roar, she jumped out of the grass and pounced on the zebra. It was huge and managed to get out of Nala's grasp and went into the water. Nala went after it and soon found herself in neck high water trying to take the zebra down. Suddenly she realized that she wasn't fighting only the zebra.

There was another lion in the water trying to get the zebra. Nala growled. She wouldn't let him take her soon to be first kill. The zebra was half drowned and through blurry vision Nala saw a fiery amber red mane and golden colored fur. She gasped recognizing who it was.

It was Prince Simba from the Pridelands.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's chapter three and please review. Reminder that I don't own the Lion King, Disney does.**

**Specials thanks to the following for reviewing: Asaf, BlackLouie, Doclover, CSIMentalistTLK lover, and ThatTexasKid. **

**A few more reviews would be nice…:) **

"Simba?" Nala asked, shock seeing her former friend after all these years.

Simba nodded with a smirk. He figured that she was doing her solo hunt since she was determined to make a good kill.

Simba himself was also on his solo hunt. Although it was the tradition for only lionesses to have their solo hunt, it was a law that the heir whether they are male or female to also have a solo hunt to prove to the Pride that they were capable of taking care of them.

"Now if you don't mind," Simba said. "I have to get my kill!" The zebra had managed to get back onto shore and began running.

"You mean my kill!" Nala growled and threw Simba away with much more force than Simba expected.

Winded from the impact of the blow, Simba landed on the banks of the river panting for his breath. He looked and saw Nala sprinting after the zebra on his side of the river.

Simba got onto his feet and charged after her.

"You know if I tell my father that you're on our lands you're going to be in big trouble!" Simba called.

Nala whipped her head back towards him. "Yes but I doubt you want to tell your father that you lost a kill to a lioness!"

Simba bit his lip to keep from laughing. She was definitely feisty. And smart.

The zebra was heading towards the Outlands and Nala refused to give up on it and let Simba win. She knew that Simba wouldn't either.

Nala continued the chase into the Outlands. After a few minutes she heard Simba's voice calling out to her.

"Hey you're heading into the Outlands!" Simba called.

Nala stopped the chase, panting for her breath. "I'm not giving up on my first kill!"

"I'm not either but we are heading into the Outlands and the dangers here are uncertain." Simba said.

"Why do you care if I go or not?" Nala demanded narrowing her eyes at him.

Simba smirked. "I would hate to have to tell your father that his precious Princess perished in the Outlands."

"I'm not going to perish in the Outlands." Nala hissed. "I'm going to get that kill even if it's the last thing I do." She turned and charged ahead. It would be easy to spot the zebra. Surely it wouldn't have gone far and it was open land in the Outlands which would make it easier to find.

After about an hour, Nala had brought down the zebra. She looked at her first solo kill with pride. It was one of the biggest solo hunts that they had had in years.

Nala grabbed the zebra and began hauling it back home. She figured that Simba had given up already. She had only gone about teen feet when she heard the laugh of hyenas.

Growling Nala whipped around to see a group of hyenas approaching her. She couldn't bring herself to run and leave her first kill but she knew it was risky fighting the hyenas by herself.

The hyenas lunged at her and Nala fought back, refusing to leave her first kill she had made alone. Suddenly, there was another roar that sounded like it belonged to a lion. Simba jumped onto the scene and knocked the hyenas away from her. Knowing that they couldn't fight a grown male and female the hyenas turned and high tailed away.

"You okay?" Simba asked.

"I'm fine." Nala said. "Thank you but why did you help?"

"What do you mean?" Simba asked.

"Why would you risk your life and help me?" Nala asked. "I mean we are from rival Prides and everything."

Simba grinned. "Just because I'm from the Pridelands doesn't mean that I'm heartless enough to leave a poor defenseless lioness in the Outlands." With a laugh he jumped back to avoid Nala punching him.

"Ha!" Simba laughed. "Missed me!" Nala just shook her head holding back a smile.

"Come on, why?" Nala asked.

Simba shrugged. "I was just… looking for the zebra too. I figured it would be easier just to find it here rather than go back home and track another herd. But I guess I'll have to anyways." He motioned to the kill that Nala had.

Nala looked at him. She could tell that he was somewhat lying. Another reason that he had stayed behind was to keep an eye on her. The look in his eyes told her so.

"Speaking of home," Nala said. "Do you happen to know where home is?" The hunt in the Outlands had led both of them far away from the borders of their territories.

Simba cursed under his breath. "Dammit I was so caught up in the hunt that I didn't even care about finding a way back home!"

Nala looked up to see the sun setting. She sighed knowing that once it got dark it was too dangerous to move around. She knew that her parents were probably worried by now.

"May as well settle down for the night," Nala muttered. "No use in trying to look for the borders now."

"I guess," Simba sighed. He looked at her. Was he supposed to stay with her? Or should he leave? He knew that Ariya would flip if she found out that they were in the Outlands together.

But Simba knew he should stay. It was the right thing to do no matter what their differences were.

"Simba!" Nala called from where she had managed to find a large rock that would make good enough shelter. "Want some meat?"

"Nala, no." Simba said. "Thank you but it's your first kill."

"It's fine." Nala said, biting her lips to keep from smiling. "Besides, I kind of owe you the favor for saving my life."

"Is that a smile I see?" Simba grinned, raising his eyebrows and Nala rolled her eyes. "Don't make me regret it!"

"I won't." Simba chuckled and both of them fed from the carcass. Once they were done, Simba looked around desperately trying to find a way back home although he knew he would have a better chance in the morning. He thought that Nala was doing the same until he turned around and saw her grooming herself.

"Are you serious?!" Simba exclaimed.

"What?" Nala asked.

"Why is it that you females always need to stay clean?" Simba asked.

"Why is that you males must always stay dirty?" Nala retorted.

"Whatever," Simba shrugged. "I'm going to find a place to sleep. Night."

Nala didn't say anything as he went of the find a shelter of his own but she was pretty sure that he would end up sleeping on the other side of the rock.

Her mind wandered back to her parents. Surely they would have started searching for her by now. Perhaps Asante's Pride had already heard of the news. She sincerely hoped that they wouldn't assume that she was dead and find Thresh another mate.

Although the idea of Thresh mating with another lioness didn't bother her, the idea of her father losing his end of the deal and her Pride losing the territory that they were promised did bother her. Nala would do anything to help her Pride.

Her walk with Thresh had been nice but she had found out that they had nothing in common. They had talked about their hobbies and interests but none of them were really the same.

Nala was blunt while Thresh seemed to approach things slowly.

Nala hated others making decisions for her but Thresh didn't mind.

Nala liked being around others all the time but Thresh preferred peace and quiet to himself.

Nala loved sleeping outside the den while Thresh loved sleeping inside the den.

Nala hated swimming while Thresh liked it.

Nala had at least hoped that they would have some things in common but they didn't. But Nala knew that it was her responsibility. Besides, she wasn't interested in any males from her Pride so it didn't really matter.

With these final thoughts, Nala closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep.

TLKTLKTLKTLTLKTLKTLKTLK

Meanwhile back in the Outlands, Mufasa had gathered the rest of the Pride after the search parties had come back with no news of Simba.

He felt sick with worry. What if something had happened to him while hunting? Akila had braved the risks of being spotted by the River Pride and had quickly scouted the other side of the river and had hurried back when he was done but hadn't reported any signs of his older brother.

"As you all know," Mufasa began. "Simba has not returned yet and not any search parties have had any luck in finding them. I can now only assume that he has injured himself somewhere and is waiting for us to find him. However, searching in the dark will give us no help. The moon isn't even out fully tonight. We will search for him tomorrow early morning and bring him back to Priderock. For now all I want is for everyone to get some sleep so we can search for him tomorrow."

The Pride nodded with murmurs and whispers and began heading back into the dens.

Sarabi was near tears. What if something had happened to her oldest son? She wouldn't be able to live if Simba died. She felt Mufasa guiding her into the den and she had no energy to protest.

Akila collapsed down with a sigh. After a few minutes, Malaika joined him.

"Akila, we'll find him. Simba's strong and smart. He'll be okay." Malaika said

"I know," Akila murmured. "But if something happens to him…I will never forgive myself."

Malaika nuzzled him. "Everything will be alright. Just have faith." Akila just nodded.

"I'm going to sleep now." Malaika said, giving his cheek a lick and Akila rubbed his muzzle against hers. "Good night."

"Good night," Akila said with a small smile as she pulled back and went into the den. After a few minutes he also headed in the den for some sleep.

Meanwhile, Ariya had waited until everyone fell asleep before she snuck out of the den to meet up with another male Rojan.

"Ariya," Rojan greeted nuzzling her and Ariya gave his cheek a lick.

"We have to find Simba." Ariya said. "Tomorrow morning."

Rojan narrowed his eyes. "But I thought that you-"

"I don't have any feelings for him." Ariya assured. "But if he dies, our plans will fail."

"I know." Rojan nodded.

"After Simba and I become mates, then we can mate." Ariya said. "It won't be that hard to trick Simba into believing that the cub is actually yours and then our cub will be the heir. But none of that will happen if we don't find Simba. If he dies, Akila will take the throne and Malaika will be his Queen."

Rojan smiled and rubbed his muzzle against hers. "You my dear are a genius."

Ariya gave him another nuzzle with a smile. "Let's go back to Priderock now."

Rojan nodded and they headed back.

TLTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

Back at the River Pride, Sarafina and Runju were both devastated.

"Runju what if something happened to her?" Sarafina whispered. "There are so many dangers and…"  
"We're going to find her," Runju assured but he had to hide the worry in his voice. He knew that Nala had been determined to get a kill and his biggest fear was that had been her downfall.

"The search parties didn't even come back with a sign of her," Sarafina said. "What could have happened?"

"We're going to find her." Runju said. "I won't stop until we do."

**Sorry if there's not much action in this chapter but the next one will be very exciting. I promise. Please remember to leave a review. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's chapter four and please review. **

**Thanks to the following for reviewing: CasperJames, Doclover, AMBER, ThatTexasKid, TMNTMentalistTLK lover, and Asaf for reviewing. **

The next morning, Nala got up and to her dismay she saw that it was raining. Just by looking at the clouds she could tell that it was heavy rain. She knew that heavy rain in the Outlands made it next to impossible to travel anywhere and back home it would prevent her father from sending search parties into the Outlands if he suspected that Nala was there but she knew that he probably didn't anyways.

Nala opened her mouth and let the cool water trickle down her throat, quenching her thirst. She was enjoying herself when she heard an ever so familiar and annoying voice that made her jump causing her to choke on her water and blur tears in her eyes.

"You know if you're thirsty there is a puddle of water nearby."

It was Simba.

Nala glared at him after her coughing calmed down. "Do you enjoy sneaking up on me?" He had cracked up from Nala's shock and choking.

"You could say that," Simba grinned once he stopped laughing.

"So where'd you sleep last night?" Nala asked.

Simba shrugged, "There's a cave nearby. I just got up."

"So why'd you come here if it's raining?" Nala asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

Simba nervously rubbed the back of his head. "Well I was going to ask you if you wanted to join me since its raining and everything."  
Nala shrugged. "Sure." She let Simba lead her back into the cave. It was pretty small probably just enough for both of them.

"I don't actually think it's a cave." Simba said. "Probably two or three dry trees that fell down years ago."

Nala followed Simba and the two of them squeezed in. Nala couldn't help but notice how close she had laid down by Simba.

"Simba…I…" Nala began but her voice trailed off.

"It's alright," Simba said as if he knew what she was thinking. "I know this usually wouldn't have been…appropriate but this isn't usual circumstances."

"Thanks," Nala said, relaxing.

"Besides," Simba continued. "I have a mate to be back home."

"You do?" Nala asked, with a little more surprise then she expected.

Simba gave her a strange look. "Yeah I do. I am the crown Prince and everything…."

Nala tried to shrug it off but she couldn't help but feel a nagging feeling at the fact that Simba was intended. "Whatever. I'm intended to King Asante's son, Thresh."

"King Asante's son huh?" Simba asked with a grin. "Well Thresh has one heck of a mate coming up!"

"Shut up Simba!" Nala exclaimed flinging her paw at him again but he ducked with a laugh. "You are so annoying! I feel sorry for your mate to be!"

"Missed me again!" Simba said. "And her name is Ariya."

Nala sighed, "I hate being stuck here. I always need to be out in the open."

"Same here," Simba said. "Apparently King Asante's territory has a lot of open territory. You'll like that."

"I know. It will be nice but Thresh told me that he's more of an in the den type of lion. I love sleeping outside and everything." Nala said.

"I know that feeling. I love being outside and sleeping under the stars. There's nothing better than that." Simba that. "But Ariya is that in the den type of lioness. A few days ago my friends and I wanted to hang out outside but Ariya didn't really want to go so I couldn't either."

"Do you think that our parents suspected that we crossed into each other's territory?" Nala asked.

"I don't know but if word goes out to your Pride that I'm missing it might raise suspicions." Simba that. "I know that my father wouldn't go searching for me in your territory unless he had a good reason. But I'm pretty sure that my friends would just go without telling my father."

"So would mine," Nala nodded and laid her head down in her paws. After a while she felt her eyes getting drowsy and before she knew it she was asleep.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

Meanwhile back in the Pridelands Mufasa had sent out more search parties and he let Akila form his own with Akila's friends.

"Listen," Akila said once the adults were gone. "I know where we have to look."

"Where?" Shinda asked.

"The River Pride territory." Akila said.

"What are you talking about?" Tojo asked. "Why would he be there?"

"I don't know." Akila said. "But I just have this weird feeling. We have to go look there."

"What if King Runju or some of the other lions there see us?" Shani asked.

"That's a risk that I am willing to take for my brother. We'll figure something out if does." Akila said. "And I won't let any of you get in trouble from the River Pride or my father. I'll take full blame no matter what. I promise."

"Alright then." Moraan said. "Simba would do it for us. So let's go."

Everyone nodded and headed towards the River Pride territory.

When they reached the River, Akila looked around for the stepping stones he used to cross last night.

"Over there." Akila said. "Once we're there, split up into groups of two or three. A smaller group will be less noticeable."

"When should we meet back on this side of the river?" Amri asked. "We can't stay for too long."

"Let's say about an hour and a half." Chumvi said and everyone nodded.

"I'll go first," Alex said, stepping on the first rock and he scanned around for crocodiles. He could see no signs of them and continued across.

"Malaika, you go next." Akila said. I'll be right behind you."

He and Malaika safely crossed the river and after a few minutes, everyone was across. Akila looked at everyone. "Let's split up into groups. Go around the border first then if there's no lions around let's try going more inward. Above all, do not get caught."

Everyone nodded. Shinda looked at Shani. "Shani come with me."

"Malaika?" Shani asked, looking at their younger half- sister.

"I'm coming." Malaika said, and joined them.

Chumvi, Amri and Moraan were together and Akila went with Tojo, and Alex.

"Meet back in an hour and a half!" Akila called as he lead Tojo and Alex away.

Chumvi, Amri and Moraan went their own way and began the search. After about an hour, he saw three lionesses in the distance.

"Hide!" Amri hissed and they scurried behind a grove of trees.

"Don't move," Chumvi murmured as the lionesses came closer.

"There have been no signs of Nala." One of the lionesses said. "This shouldn't have happened! It was her first hunt!"

Moraan looked at his friends. Was Nala missing too?

"Tama, you have to calm down." Another lioness said.

"Shari's right," The third lioness said. "We won't get anywhere if we can't calm down."

"I know that Kula." Tama sighed. "But what could have happened…what if Nala is gone." 

"Don't think like that," Shari said. "Nala's the strongest lioness in our Pride. Nothing can break her."

"Nala's missing too." Amri breathed. "Is this some kind of connection that both of them are missing at the same time."

Suddenly Chumvi yelped and jumped with wide eyes.

"Shut up!" Moraan growled at him.

"A freaking porcupine rolled over my paw!" Chumvi said in between gritted teeth and held up his left paw that had four porcupine quills in it.

"What was that?" Kula asked, moving in closer. "It sounded like someone yelled."

"You blew our cover idiot." Amri muttered as the lionesses moved in closer.

Chumvi winced as the lionesses moved in closer and he could only close his eyes. Half of him was cursing himself that he had blown it while the other half was silently praying that the lionesses would miss them. Suddenly he saw the same porcupine coming back towards him and his eyes went wide. No way was he going to let the damn porcupine take his other paw as well.

With surprised shout Chumvi jumped out of the grove of trees and hit Kula straight. Kula screamed as she fell down onto her back with Chumvi on top of her.

The other lionesses were gawking at the scene while Moraan and Amri hurried to his side.

"You moron!" Amri shouted. "Get off her!"

Chumvi came out of his state of shock and quickly jumped off Kula.

"Sorry!" Chumvi exclaimed. "There was a porcupine and…and...I…forget it." He could see Amri and Moraan glaring at him.

"Wait," Tama said, walking closer to them. "You three are from the Pridelands! Trespassers!"

"It's not what you think." Moraan said, coming up to her. He needed to talk her out of being mad fast. The last thing that they needed was for King Runju to come and punish them. "King Mufasa doesn't know that we're here. We came without telling him because we were looking for Prince Simba. He went missing yesterday."

"Give me one good reason as to why we shouldn't report this back to our King." Shari said, narrowing her eyes at them.

Amri thought quickly. "Because if you don't, we'll help look for Nala and you can help us look for Simba." 

"Why would we take your deal?" Tama demanded.

"Wait!" Kula stepped forward. "Tama, Shari consider this. Look, I know that we're from rival Pride's but we don't know what they've ever done to us and I doubt that they know that what we've ever done to them. We just listen to our parents and I'm supposing that they do to." She looked at the males who nodded.

"And think about it." Kula continued. "Nala also went missing the same day that Simba did. Maybe it's some kind of connection." She looked at her friends who nodded.

"Fine then," Shari said. "We won't tell King Runju if you help our search. Each of you split up and come with one of us. It's easier to hide in smaller groups and we can guide you away safely from the rest of the Pride."

"That's perfect…." Chumvi said. "But…there are more of us."

"What?!" Kula growled. "How many did you bring?"

"About six more." Chumvi said.

"Well this is great!" Kula muttered growling at him. "You damn Pridelander!"

Chumvi growled and stepped closer to her and leaned in so their faces were nearly touching. "Say that again you freaking Riverside lioness!"

Kula let out an angry snarl and looked like she was about to attack but Tama and Moraan put themselves in between their friends.  
"Don't fight!" Tama said, pulling Kula back while Moraan dragged Chumvi back. "For now, let's go find their other friends and we can decide on something there." 

"Fine," Amri said. "They should be by the river now."

"Let's go," Tama said and began walking with Shari.

Kula glared at Chumvi. "If you touch me one more time I will personally rip your eyes out and shove them down your throat so you can see my claws tearing through your neck!" She turned and went to catch up with Tama and Shari.

Chumvi stood there gawking at Kula's boldness while Moraan and Amri walked by him chuckling at his reaction.

Shaking his head Chumvi hurried after them. _"Stupid lioness."_

Meanwhile Akila and the rest of the Pridelanders had reached the river and were waiting for Amri, Chumvi and Moraan.

He raised his eyebrows when the three males stepped out of the bushes with a strange look on his face and then his eyes went wide when three lionesses followed him.

"What did you three do?" Akila shouted. "You led them right to us!"

"Oh will you calm down?" Shari asked, rolling her eyes. "We were going to help but if you don't want it we could always go report back-"

"No we want it!" Malaika said, stepping forward. "What's the deal?"

"You will help us look for Nala and we won't tell King Runju that you were on our lands." Tama said.

"Fair enough." Akila said. "When did Nala go missing?"

"Yesterday afternoon." Kula said.

"That's the same time that Simba disappeared. It must have some kind of connection." Akila said thoughtfully. "I know my brother may seem Prince like and everything in front of the adults but we all know what his real side is."

"Alright then." Tama said. "Come with us and we'll start searching."

**Hope you enjoyed and please review. So now the younger lions of both Prides have teamed up together. What do you think will happen?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's chapter five and please review. Sorry about the delay in updates but I've had bad writer's block.**

**Thanks to the following for reviewing: BlackLouie, Cavivafan98, CasperJames, Doclover, AMBER, Asaf, ThatTexasKid, and TMNTMentalisttlk lover.**

**Disclaimer: The part that Simba jokes around that Nala doesn't scowl in her sleep; I got the idea from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. **

Back in the Outlands, Nala was having an uncomfortable sleep with nightmares.

_She was running in the Outlands. Ahead she could see the border of the River Pride territory but every time she got near it would disappear and appear somewhere else so Nala had to run in another direction._

_After a few hours Nala was getting more and more frustrated. Was she doomed to stay in the Outlands forever? Nala charged towards the border again and she let out a defeated sob when it disappeared and appeared somewhere else at the edge of the horizon. _

"_What am I going to do?" Nala cried softly to herself. "Who's going to come and save me?"_

"_Nala," Nala whirled around but she couldn't find whoever called her. But she knew one thing._

_The voice made her feel special. She felt like she was safe. Like she was loved._

_The voice belonged to Simba._

_Nala turned to see Simba behind her. Simba looked at Nala with so much love in his eyes that Nala found herself smiling back at him._

"_Simba," Nala whispered. She didn't know why but she felt herself getting warm and happy inside. Unable to hold herself back, Nala buried her face into Simba's mane as he tucked his chin on top of her head._

"_It's alright," Simba whispered. "You're safe with me. I will never let anything hurt you."_

Nala opened her eyes, half expecting to be safe and warm in Simba's embrace. She saw Simba up and awake in the corner of her eyes and she felt embarrassed. How could she have had a dream like that about him?

"Keeping watch?" Nala asked.

"Yeah," Simba said. "Can't be too careful in the Outlands."

"Sorry," Nala said. "I shouldn't have slept so long and make you keep watch for both of us."

"It's fine," Simba said and then grinned. "Besides, you look much nicer in your sleep. You don't scowl so much."

This of course brought a scowl onto Nala's face causing Simba to laugh.

"I really need a break from you," Nala muttered and began to get up.

"Go out there and you catch a cold!" Simba reminded, pointing with his muzzle. It was still raining heavily.

Nala sighed and flopped back down. "You can sleep now if you want. I'll keep watch."

"I'm not tired." Simba said, shaking his head. "And I'm worrying to much about what's happening back home to even think about sleep."

"They'll probably start leading the searches into the Outlands in a few days. But I doubt they'll come looking this far." Nala said and Simba nodded in agreement.

"We have to go," Simba said. "If the rain doesn't stop in say…two days we have to go."

"I know," Nala murmured. "We'll go together."

TLKTLKTLKTLKLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

Back in the River Pride territory, Simba's friends and Nala's friends were still searching.

"We still haven't found them." Tama sighed squeezing her eyes shut.

"Yeah I think we all know that." Moraan said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Tama whipped around growling at him. "I would really suggest that you don't tamper with my temper!"

"Alright! Alright!" Moraan exclaimed. "I was joking!"

Meanwhile Shari, Amri and Malaika were ahead looking for Simba and Nala.

"Do you think that King Runju will spot us here?" Malaika asked.

"I doubt it." Shari said. "He and the rest of the Pride took the other half of the Pridelands to search so I doubt he's going to come here. But we should head back. We're expected back at Riverside soon."

Malaika and Amri nodded and headed back to the others. Once they grouped up, Akila spoke up.

"Thanks for not reporting us back to King Runju." Akila said, looking at Tama, Shari and Kula. "We'll start heading back to the Pridelands but I have to ask this. Is our deal still on? We'll help you look for Simba and you can help us look for Nala."

Shari's voice slightly cracked. "We've looked for two days straight and we still haven't found her and neither have you found Simba. If they're alive, they would have returned to Priderock by now. If they're injured, they're probably waiting for us to find them but how long can they survive with the injuries? Do you know if your father will call off the searches today?"

"No," Akila said, shaking his head. "He can't. Even if he does, I will keep looking until I find my brother." Beside him the Pridelanders echoed his words.

Kula nodded. "And we won't give up either. For now the deal is on. If we need help, we'll find a way to reach you and you can find a way to reach us if you need our help."

"Thank you," Akila said and with a nod to his friends, they began to head up. Shani, Shinda and Malaika bid farewell to the Tama, Kula and Shari. Although the males had had a rough start with the Riverside lionesses, Shinda, Malaika and Shani had quickly opened up to them and they had returned the favor.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

Back in the Outlands, the rain had finally stopped.

"We can head back now." Simba said, stepping out of their little den.

"It's going to take us a while to find the way back to the Pridelands." Nala said. "Maybe we should wait until the pathway star comes out and then we can follow it."

"No," Simba said. "I don't want to wait. Besides, who knows if it's even going to be a starry night?"

"But what if you go and you end up getting more lost?" Nala persisted.

"I can find my way back." Simba said, holding his head up high.

"Oh I can clearly see where that got you last time!" Nala snapped.

Simba growled and leaned closer to her. "And your point is?"

Nala snarled at him. "The only thing that you're going to do by going now is get us more lost!"

"If you don't like it," Simba said, narrowing his eyes. "You can stay by yourself."

"Fine by me." Nala said, sitting down.

Simba bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smirking. She was definitely confident. He had thought that she would agree into following him if he left her. He now knew that Nala didn't let anyone push her around.

"Well then." Simba said. "If you ever make it back, I'll see you then. And if you don't…I'll give your father my sincerest apologies."

"You won't be telling anyone anything because I'm the one who's going to make it back first." Nala said, smirking at him. Simba rolled his eyes but he was grinning as he turned around and headed off. Nala watched him go.

"_He's such an annoying idiot."_ Nala thought. _"But why do I feel so…empty now that he's not here?"_

As Simba continued making his way in the direction he thought that would lead to the Pridelands, he looked back at Nala. He wondered if he had made the right decision leaving her. It wasn't exactly the noble thing to do but he also knew as the Prince, he had to get back to the Pridelands. And the only reason that he had really gotten lost in the Outlands in the first place was because he had stayed behind to keep an eye on Nala. He couldn't sacrifice even more for her.

"_This doesn't feel right."_ Simba thought but he knew he had responsibilities. He also knew that Ariya would flip if she found out that he and Nala had been…close during their time in the Outlands but Simba figured it was best not to tell her and save all the trouble.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

As night fell, Nala was disappointed to see that it was a cloudy night. But she saw the dim light of the moon coming through the clouds and she knew that in a few hours the clouds would clear up and reveal a starry night which would leave her a few hours to travel but it was better than nothing.

Nala stayed awake and alert looking around for hyenas and rouge lions but thankfully there were none. Suddenly, Nala heard a twig crack from behind her. Wanting to get the upper hand, she leapt at whatever was behind her and she heard a roar telling her that her opponent was a lion.

But the roar sounded familiar.

Losing her balance, Nala fell on her back onto the ground and felt the lion fall on top of her. As she thought it was, the lion was Simba.

"Simba!" Nala exclaimed, feeling the heat between them as they lay on one another. "Get off!"

"Sorry!" Simba exclaimed and jumped off her. "How did you get to the borders so fast?"

"What do you mean?" Nala asked. "I was here this whole time."

Simba looked around and let out a snarl of anger. "I thought for sure this was the way back! I've been travelling in a big circle!"

"I told you to listen to me but you didn't." Nala said, rolling her eyes at him.

"Well it's not like your plan works because it's cloudy." Simba said, pointing at the sky.

"Only for a few hours." Nala insisted. "Then I can find my way back."

Simba sighed. "I'm going to find that puddle of water we drank out of." He trotted off.

Everything was silent for a few minutes before Nala heard a yelp followed by an ear splitting roar.

"Simba!" Nala charged towards him assuming the worst.

There was silence and Nala felt her heart drop. _"He's dead! He's dead!"_

When she got there, she saw Simba hopping around on three legs. Nala stared at him wondering what happened.

"What happened?" Nala asked. "Was it a hyena? A rogue?"

"No!" Simba exclaimed. "This!" He held his paw up which had a huge thorn stuck in it.

"You yelled because of that?" Nala shouted at him. "Simba don't scare me like that! I thought you were being attacked! Use your brain once in a while! We're in the Outlands for spirits sake!"

"Why are you so upset?" Simba asked as he pulled out the thorn wincing and Nala realized that she was panting hard and near tears.

"I…I…" Nala felt herself choking up. "I thought you were dead!"

Simba stared at her wondering why she was so concerned about him. Before he could stop himself he pulled Nala to him and let her bury her face into his mane. "Hey it's okay. I'm alright. Sorry I scared you like that." He could feel warmth going through him. Warmth that he had never felt before. Simba had never felt this way when he touched Ariya. Why did Nala have that effect on him? Simba held Nala for a few minutes before she pulled back.

Nala nodded and the two of them got a drink. After the clouds cleared up the stars began to shine down on them.

"Let's go!" Nala said and they began to go ahead using the stars to navigate.

At dawn, they were by the borders and Nala felt relief flood through her.

"We're home!" Simba exclaimed. "Finally!"

"It was only four days." Nala said rolling her eyes but she smiled.

"So I guess we have to split ways." Simba said as they came to the part where the land split into the two territories.

"Thanks," Nala said. "For helping me get through."

"I should be thanking you." Simba said. "You helped me get through too. If you ever need anything…just come to our borders and tell one of the males on the patrol that you want to see me. I'll spread the news about it."

"Thanks Simba." Nala smiled. "I will."

Simba smiled. "I'll see you I guess. Bye."

"Bye." Nala said, softly as he began bounding back to Priderock. He had his family and mate to be…Ariya waiting for him there. She still felt the nagging inside her at the thought of him and Ariya. Although she had felt fine with her marriage to Thresh before, now…now she felt like she didn't want to.

The warmth she had felt between her and Simba…she had never felt that way with Thresh. She and Simba had so much more in common than her and Thresh. What was going on with her?

"_It's because I love him."_ Nala realized then she quickly shook the thought out of her head. It would never happen. Simba had Ariya back at home and she was expected to be with Thresh. It would never happen and it was better to forget about it. She had to fulfill her responsibilities. With another longing glance at Priderock, Nala turned and headed back to Riverside.

**Hope you enjoyed and please review. So Nala finally realized her feelings BUT they're back in their separate Prides. But what about Simba? What's Ariya going to do? Stay tuned to find out!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Here's chapter six and please review. Reminder that I don't own Lion King, Disney does.**

**Thanks to my following reviewers: BlackLouie, Doclover, Nala's fan, Asaf, AMBER, TMNTMentalistTLK Lover and ThatTexasKid. **

A few hours later, Simba had greeted his family and friends and had told them the story of how he had been lost and how Nala and he had made it back safely together.

Mufasa had nodded and said, "I understand that Nala helped you and you helped Nala. Therefore you two are even and there are no debts to be paid for that Pride. We will have no more further contact with them. For now Simba, you need to get some rest."

Simba had agreed and headed off to the shady trees by the slope of Priderock for some sleep. He had woken up after an hour to see Ariya settling down next to him.

"Hey," Simba said, raising his head.

Ariya nuzzled his cheek with her nose. "How're you feeling? Still tired?"

"No," Simba said. "I'm fine."

"I was so worried about you," Ariya said. "When we couldn't find you I thought…"

"I was fine." Simba said. "Thanks to Nala. I would have never made it out without her."

"Whatever," Ariya said. "She's from the River Pride."

"Why does it matter if she's from the River Pride or not?" Simba asked. "She saved my life."

"And you saved hers." Ariya pointed out. "It's even like your father said."

"No it's not Ariya." Simba said. "I mean I don't get why I shouldn't even think of her again. I don't care whether she's from the River Pride. Nala's a nice lioness…well not exactly nice to me but she's fun to be around. I don't care of my father's rules or not. I told her if she ever needed me all she had to do was to come to the river and tell one of the males on the patrol that she had to talk to me. I'm going to tell the males today."

"You are not going to talk to her." Ariya hissed narrowing her eyes. "You two are even and that's all."

"Who says I can't talk to her?" Simba demanded.

"I say so." Ariya said. "And the rest of the Pride will agree with me."

"No one can tell me what to do!" Simba grunted, feeling a bit irritated. "Besides, aren't you supposed to be getting training to be the leader of the hunting party?" It was a law in the Pridelands that the Queen was to be the leader of the hunting party and Sarabi had been helping Ariya train.

"I want to." Ariya said. "But the herds moved so far from Priderock and I don't want to track them so much."

"Are you serious?!" Simba exclaimed. "Nala tracked a zebra in the Outlands for hours and it was her first hunt! You're in the Pridelands and you can't track a herd? You have it easy here."

"Why are you so defensive of Nala?!" Ariya shouted. "Was something going on between you two in the Outlands?"

"No!" Simba exclaimed. "We're just friends!"

"It sounds more like than just friends to me!" Ariya growled at him. "I'm your future mate Simba not her! You should be defending me not her!"

"Ariya you're just a lioness like her! Just because you're the future Queen doesn't mean that you're better than the others!" Simba said.

Ariya growled and jumped up. "Come find me when you learn to treat me with some respect!" She stormed away. Simba let her go.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

Back Riverside, Nala was about to go into the den when she heard her parent's talking.

"….hoping it would be Saji instead of Thresh. That way, Nala would have been the Queen. But he already has a mate." Runju was saying.

"You know you could change that!" Sarafina snapped. "Let's not forget what you did when Mheetu and Hofu were born."

"Sarafina do not bring that up again. If Nala finds out there's going to be trouble." Runju said.

"I understand why you want Mheetu or Hofu to rule." Sarafina said. "But Nala was the firstborn and she should have been the heir. You lied to her from the day she could understand and told her that it was the firstborn male."

Nala silently gasped. Her father had lied? He had told her that the law stated that the firstborn male had to rule but from what her mother was saying she should have been the heir.

"I don't care whether the law states that the firstborn cub should be the heir!" Runju said. "I want to male heir and I have it. Nothing will change that."

"You lied to me!" Nala cried storming into the den. Sarafina and Runju's eyes went wide when they saw her.

"Nala what are you doing here?" Sarafina asked. "I thought you were resting."

"I was," Nala said before whirling to Runju. "I heard everything. You lied me to all these years! I should be the heir not Mheetu and Hofu."

"No Nala." Runju said, narrowing his eyes. "I want a male heir and I have it. Nothing will change my mind."

"The law states that the firstborn is to be the heir. That would be me!" Nala exclaimed.

"I'm the King and my word is law. The firstborn male or in this case males will rule and it will be your brothers."

"Hofu and Mheetu have no right to the throne. I do!" Nala exclaimed. "I'm the firstborn!"

"I don't care!" Runju growled. "Your brothers will take the throne after me and nothing will change my mind!"

"You're not going to defend me are you?" Nala asked, narrowing her eyes at Sarafina.

"I told you that someday she'd find out." Sarafina said, glaring at Runju.

"It doesn't matter that she found out or not." Runju said, his voice cold. "Mheetu and Hofu are the heirs."

Nala gave him a long glance before she spoke again. "I thought that because I was just the Princess, the only way I could do the best for my Pride was marrying Thresh so you could get the land. I thought that that was the one responsibility I could do. I wanted to marry someone I loved but I gave that up for your sake Father!"

"Watch your tone!" Runju warned.

"I thought that the only thing I could do to prove myself worthy was to marry Thresh but that's not my responsibility anymore!" Nala hissed.

"What do you mean?" Sarafina asked.

"I mean that my real responsibility should be becoming Queen not marrying Thresh!" Nala exclaimed.

"Don't be ridiculous Nala!" Runju growled. "We need that land and the only way to get it is by marrying you off to Thresh."

"Well that's not going to happen!" Nala growled.

"What?" Sarafina gasped.

"I'm leaving with the rest of my friends!" Nala said, shaking her head. "My real responsibility isn't to marry Thresh like I thought! I want to marry someone I love! The only reason I gave that up was because you needed that land but I clearly don't matter to you Father, so I don't see why you should matter to me!"

"You are not going anywhere." Runju hissed. "You are going to stay here under our protection until we hand you off to a mate of your own and that will be Thresh."

"Never!" Nala growled before she stormed out of the den.

About an hour later, she managed to find Tama, Shari and Kula.

"What happened?" Kula asked when she saw Nala.

"You won't believe me if I tell you." Nala muttered.

"Just tell us Nala." Shari said. "What happened?"

Nala sighed and explained what she had overheard her parents talking about and her argument with her father.

"That's ridiculous!" Tama said shaking her head. "If you're the heir, then you should be the next Queen."

"But he will never let me be the Queen." Nala sighed. "Doesn't matter because I'm leaving anyways."

"You are?" Kula asked. "Why?"

"At first I thought I was just the Princess and I wanted to help my Pride by fulfilling my responsibility. I thought that I didn't have much to do until my father told me of the agreement he made with King Asante. I wanted to marry someone I loved but I wanted to do something for my Pride to show that I'm worthy. That was my chance to help my Pride. But now that I found out about the truth, I realized that my real responsibility is to become the Queen. I don't see why I should marry Thresh if I don't have to." Nala explained and the lionesses nodded.

"If you're leaving, we'll come with you." Shari said. "We have to leave in a few months anyways so may as well go now."

"I know but my father won't let me leave so I have to go without him knowing." Nala said. "Then you can't tell your families either."

"It's okay." Tama said. "We'll find a way to contact them after we leave."

"So when're we going?" Kula asked.

"Tomorrow evening." Nala said. "We'll leave then."

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

Back in the Pridelands Simba had spent quite a while thinking of Ariya. She had always been a bit clingy and now he knew how she really was. Demanding and only thinking of her.

"_If I can't stand her now,"_ Simba thought. _"How am I going to deal with her while we're mates?"_

Another thought hit his mind. He remembered how he had promised Nala that she would be able to talk to him whenever she needed and before he could spread word about that, he had to talk to his father.

Simba headed back to Priderock and found Mufasa with Ajjali at the resting place.

"What happened next Daddy?" Ajjali was asking.

"Dad can we talk?" Simba interrupted. "It's kind of urgent."

"Simba he was telling me the best story ever!" Ajjali whined.

"Ajjali, we can continue later." Mufasa said, giving her a nuzzle. "I just have to deal with your brother first. Go up into the dens. Your mother's waiting for you." Ajjali nodded and trotted into the dens.

"What's wrong son?" Mufasa asked.

Simba explained about his promise to Nala and Mufasa shook his head.

"Simba they are from the River Pride and we are from the Pridelands. I will not have my son talking with King Runju's daughter." Mufasa said.

"Dad what have they ever done to us?" Simba asked.

"Not to us, but to your great grandfathers they have done plenty." Mufasa said.  
"That's long in the past!" Simba exclaimed. "We have to forget about our rivalry. We are one!"

"Nonsense!" Mufasa growled.

"You don't have anything against them." Simba persisted. "It was your great grandfather or someone like that. You just follow in their paw prints because it's your responsibility. It doesn't matter. The past is the past and continuing to hate won't make us better than them!" Simba said.

Mufasa sighed and was silent for a few minutes before he spoke. "I'm not over about the rivalry between our Prides but you may keep your promises to Nala."

"Thanks!" Simba exclaimed before hurrying to the borders to spread the word.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

The next evening, Nala and her friends had volunteered to do the entire evening hunt but it was really their escape plan.

"Where are we going?" Tama asked. "Do you know any unclaimed lands?"

"My father never spoke of them." Nala said. "That stuff is mostly known by royals and there are only two royals that I could speak with. Thresh is one of them but he can't know."

"Who else?" Shari asked.

Nala gave them a look. "I'm going to ask Prince Simba."

"Are you out of your mind?" Kula asked. "He wouldn't help us."

"Yes he would." Nala said as they began making their way to the river. "Besides, you three worked with his friends."

"Not that I liked the males there." Tama muttered. "But Shani, Malaika and Shinda were nice."

"See," Nala said. "The only reason my father and the rest of the adults insist that we're enemies is because it's their responsibilities. But it's time to let the past go."

"What if he doesn't know?" Shari asked.

"Then we'll just leave and find a place as we go." Nala said and everyone nodded.

As they reached the river, Nala's heart soared as she saw who was there.

"Simba!" Nala called.

Simba turned around and a smile lit up his face when he saw her. "Nala!" He crossed the river and hurried up to her.

"Hey," Simba said and gave the other three a polite nod that they returned.

"Simba," Nala said. "I came to ask you for a favor."

"Anything," Simba said. "What do you need?"

"We're leaving tonight and I was wondering if you knew of any unclaimed land." Nala said.

Simba nodded. "There's one far north of here and it's at least a week and a half of travel day and night. But why are you leaving?"

Nala sighed and explained what had happened and Simba nodded.

"I'm sorry," Simba said. "If that were me, I would be doing the same thing."

Nala nodded. "So the land is north of here."

Simba nodded. "Yes but there's something better I can offer you?"

"What?" Kula asked.

"You can stay in the Pridelands." Simba said. 

"What?" Nala exclaimed. "Simba no! The adults of our Prides hate each other and your father would never welcome us." 

"I can talk to him." Simba insisted. "You four can stay under my word. I'm the future King anyways."

"Simba…" Nala said, uneasily. She didn't want to go into the enemies lands and there was another reason. It was Simba himself. Nala was scared that if she lived at Priderock, she would be unable to hide her feelings to him.

"Nala, come on!" Simba said. "It's worth a try. I want you to stay and I know my friends will welcome you."

"Even Chumvi?" Kula asked, raising her eyebrows.

Simba grinned. "He's an idiot but a softie at heart. What did he do to you?"

"Don't ask." Kula said, rolling her eyes as Tama and Shari laughed.

"So what do you think?" Simba asked. "At least give it a try."

"Well…" Nala thought. "Fine. I'll give it a try."

Simba grinned and they began heading into the Pridelands.

**Hope you enjoyed and please review. Wow so Nala betrayed her father and decided to go to the Pridelands. What do you think will happen? Will Thresh and his Pride react before Runju will. Will Runju and Asante team up to wage war? Stay tuned to find out. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Here's chapter seven and please review.**

**Thanks to Nala's fan, BlackLouie, TMNTMentalistTLK lover, ThatTexasKid, sitched01, AMBER, Doclover and Asaf for reviewing. **

Meanwhile back at Priderock Malaika was in an argument with her two older half- sisters.

"I don't get why you can't watch them," Shinda was saying.

"I do watch them!" Malaika exclaimed. "More than you." Shani who was more quiet and reserved just watched.

"Look," Shinda said, narrowing her eyes. "I'll tell you this. Zuri and Anjani are not my full siblings. They're half just like you. Don't think that I feel the same towards you three like I do to Shani and Tojo."

Hurt flashed in Malaika's eyes. "But Mom said that we were to take turns watching them when they have to be watched. It's not much. Just when Mom and Dad can't watch them."

"I don't care whether Mom and Hariku need time together. I don't like it either." Shinda sighed. "If they're so worried about Zuri and Anjani, they can just watch them themselves. I'm done with this."

"Don't talk about my parents like that." Malaika said, narrowing her emerald green eyes at Shinda.

Shinda growled. "Your parents? Our mother was only our mother before your father came along. We were perfectly happy and the next thing we knew was that they were mates and then you were born then years after that, Zuri and Anjani were born."

"Mom was right." Malaika hissed. "You only think of yourself."

Shinda laughed but this time, pain was etched in her voice. "You will never understand how I feel. Our father left when we were less than four years old. Shani didn't even get to meet him. Tojo and I miss our father every single day. You don't know the pain of that."

"Your father was a traitor." Malaika said. "Our mother is better off without him."

This set Shinda off. Growling she leaned into Malaika so that she was towering over her. "Just leave us! I don't care what Mom says. I'm not going to watch the twins when I have things to do. If I'm free I will but other than that, no."

Malaika looked at Shani. "Shani come on. Be reasonable. Tojo doesn't watch cubs and you can't blame him since he's a male but could you at least-"

Shinda cut her off. "Shut up Malaika! Don't use Shani for your advantage and guilt trick her!" Shinda was protective of her younger sister and would do anything to protect her.

Shani looked at Malaika. "I get what you mean Malaika. And Shinda and I will watch them if we have nothing else to do. But Mom can't make us miss hunting whenever she wants time with Hariku or something like that. I know we share a mother but let's face it. Our family is divided. It's you, Mom, Hariku and the twins. Tojo, Shinda and I are by ourselves, although I can say that I am somewhat in the middle. It's the unspoken fact."

Malaika sighed and stormed off to another part of the den. A few minutes later, Kudeka walked in and went over to where Malaika was. Shinda watched as Kudeka nuzzled Malaika lovingly and the two of them exchanged some words. She noted Malaika explaining something to her and Shinda figured it was their argument. Her idea was confirmed when Kudeka turned her attention towards her older daughters and narrowed her eyes at them but Shani who was grooming herself didn't notice and Shinda just glared back.

Shinda knew that their mother was proud of Malaika. She had grown up into everything their mother had wanted all her daughters to grow up into. Malaika was the only one who had fulfilled that and Shinda figured that Zuri and Anjani would too. Shani had somewhat fulfilled it but she was loyal to Shinda and Tojo, her full blood siblings and defended them in arguments and followed in their paw steps. Shinda just knew that in Kudeka's opinion, Shani was a bit too loyal to Shinda and Tojo. That was the only fault Kudeka really saw in Shani. Other than that, to Kudeka, Shani had grown up into the lioness that Kudeka had wanted her to grow up. And with Tojo, Kudeka wasn't as concerned with what he did since he was a male.

But she knew that she had grown up opposite of what her mother wanted her to be. But Shinda didn't care. She wanted to lead her life happily. It wasn't her mother's life, it was hers. If Kudeka was happier with Malaika and the twins, Shinda was fine with it. She didn't care.

Shinda couldn't help but envy Malaika. She had her mother and her father with her. Kudeka had been a wonderful mother to Shinda and her siblings before Hariku had come. Of course she still cared for them, but her attention had been split especially when Malaika had been born.

_Flashback_

"_Let go of my ear Shinda!" Tojo laughed and he and Shinda wrestled on the spot. Shinda giggled and bit harder on Tojo's ear causing him to yelp and Shani to laugh from where she was watching them._

"_You three have to be quiet." Kudeka called. "I'm going to put Malaika to sleep soon." She turned her attention back to her newborn cub and began tenderly cleaning her, chuckling and talking to her quietly. Tojo and Shinda stopped and Shani turned to their mother._

"_Mommy when you clean me?" Shani asked. She had begun talking a couple months ago and was still having a bit of trouble. _

"_After I'm done bathing Malaika and put her to sleep." Kudeka replied, giving her a quick nuzzle. _

"_Too long!" Shani whined, stomping her foot on the ground. _

"_Shani," Kudeka reminded. "You're not a little cub anymore. Malaika needs my attention." _

_Shinda saw tears brimming in Shani's eyes and she felt a tug in her heart. She couldn't stand seeing Shani hurt. Tojo tried nuzzling Shani but she pushed him away before rubbing her eyes with her paws._

"_Why can't you clean her first?" Shinda asked looking at Kudeka. "Malaika can wait."_

_Kudeka narrowed her eyes at Shinda. "Shinda, you must learn to treat all of your siblings equally. Malaika and Shani are both the same to you." But Shinda knew that would never be true to her. She loved Shani with all her heart and she loved Malaika too. But not as much as she loved Tojo and Shani. _

_Once Malaika had finished being cleaned and was beginning to get drowsy, Hariku came into the den. He nuzzled Malaika and Kudeka. _

"_Shani what's wrong?" Hariku asked, looking at his step daughter._

_Kudeka smiled, "She's just a bit upset." She placed Malaika in Hariku's paws and then picked Shani up. With a smile, she began cleaning Shani and Shani purred happily. Unlike Tojo and Shinda, Shani loved getting cleaned and Kudeka was thankful for that. Soon Shani was falling asleep and Tojo was snoring beside Shinda. Malaika suddenly woke up and began calling out for her mother. Kudeka set Shani at her side and picked Malaika back up._

"_Mom!" Shani whined sleepily. _

"_Shhhhh," Kudeka hushed at her while trying to put Malaika back to sleep. Shani loved sleeping with her mother but Malaika needed her more than Shani did. She rolled next to her brother and sister and Shinda let Shani snuggle in between her and Tojo._

"_It's okay Shani." Shinda whispered. "You can sleep with me and Tojo." Shani nodded and yawned, snuggling herself in between her older siblings. _

_End of Flashback_

Shinda sighed with a wistful smile. Back then, it had only been sibling rivalry but it had grown into something else. Even today, she still thought that Shani hadn't received as much attention as she should have at that age. She had only been less than three years old when Malaika had been born. Before Hariku had come along, they had enjoyed time together as a family. Kudeka would take them stargazing or play with her three cubs in the grassy fields. Of course even after Hariku had come, she had done that but that had never been the same. Either Hariku or Malaika had been with them or Kudeka would always cut their time short, saying that she had to go back.

Shinda chuckled silently remembering how much attention Malaika had needed when she was young. More than usual. She always had to be the one to get a bath first. She always had to be the one to sleep next to their mother. Not that Shinda had really minded. She had distanced herself from her mother and had stayed with her full siblings. Even Shani had slowly begun to understand the fact that Malaika and she weren't full blood siblings. It had taken a while for Shinda and Tojo to explain that to her and make sure that she didn't go asking Kudeka about it but she eventually understood.

Hearing commotion outside, Shinda got up and walked out followed by Shani. Kudeka and Malaika didn't notice them going. Shinda walked outside and froze at the sight causing Shani to bump into her.

"Aren't those the River Pride lionesses we teamed up with?" Shinda asked.

"Yes," Shani nodded. "But why are they here?"

The rest of their friends were already at Simba's side talking and Shinda walked over to them.

"Shinda, how many adults are at Priderock right now?" Simba asked.

"Not a lot. My mother and a few others are in the den. But what are they doing here?" Shinda asked. She remembered Tama, Shari and Kula and she figured that the other lioness was a friend of theirs.

"After Nala helped me get through the Outlands," Simba said motioning to Nala. "I told her that if she ever needed help, just find me and she did. She needs a place to stay."

"Wait," Shani said. "But aren't you King Runju's daughter? Did he make you leave?"

"No he didn't." Nala said. "It's a long story. We just wanted to ask Simba if he knew of unclaimed lands but instead he invited us to stay in the Pridelands."

"It's actually fine by us." Tojo said. "I know that the adults have issues but we're fine. But how are we going to convince Simba's father?"

"I'll just say that I owe her." Simba said. "And our Pride is lacking young females anyways."

"What's going on here?" Kudeka walked out of the den followed by Malaika. Both of them stopped and stared at the lionesses.

"Simba," Malaika asked. "Why are they here?"

While Simba explained, Nala remembered seeing Kudeka from all those years ago when their father's had confronted each other. She remembered how Kudeka had looked at her without any anger but instead love. And now, she was studying Nala intently and ignoring her friends. Why did Kudeka look at her like that?

"What's this I hear?" Mufasa asked coming onto the scene with most of the other adults. "River Pride lionesses on my lands?"

"Dad they weren't trespassing." Simba said. "I brought them here."

"Simba why would you do that?" Sarabi asked.

"You know that I owe Nala my life so I told her that if she ever needed help she could just ask me. Nala asked me if I knew of unclaimed land that she and her friends could move to but instead I invited her here."

"Without my permission?" Mufasa asked, narrowing his eyes. Simba just shrugged.

Mufasa turned to Nala and her friends. "Why did you leave?"

Nala hesitated. She didn't exactly want to tell the truth but if she was caught telling a lie, there was no way she would be allowed to stay in the Pridelands.

Nala sighed. "My father…he didn't banish me or anything…but he did something to me that made me want to leave. My friends came along because they were going to leave anyways since our Pride was getting too big. He doesn't know that we are gone."

"What did he do to you?" Mufasa asked.

Nala sighed and after another moment of hesitation she spoke. "He went against the law and made my younger brothers the heirs even though our law states that the firstborn in supposed to rule."

Mufasa looked at her studying her carefully. Simba could tell that he was about to reject them telling them that they were from rival Prides. He walked closer to Mufasa and spoke in a low voice so only Mufasa could here.

"Think about this." Simba whispered. "We're already short young lionesses and if you reject them, you've just thrown away four perfectly good lionesses. "

Mufasa weighed the possibilities in his head. The younger generation didn't know anything about their rivalry and they were lacking young lionesses. The four young lionesses couldn't really do any harm. If he could spread the word that King Runju's daughter was in their lands, it would look good on him and bad on Runju. Runju couldn't do anything to them since if he accepted the lionesses into their Pride, they were under their law and protection.

Mufasa nodded. "For now, I will reserve judgement. We'll see who you really are."

Nala nodded and dipped her head towards him. "Thank you." Beside her, her friends echoed her words.

With another nod, Mufasa turned and headed into the dens followed by most of the other adults. The cubs went back to playing and Nala, Tama, Shari and Kula were left alone with Simba and his friends.

"So now that you're here." Alex said. "We could give you a tour around the Pridelands. And…we'll keep those two separated." He motioned to Kula and Chumvi who were giving each other looks.

"Kula the last thing we need is a fight on the first day we get here." Shari said, dragging her back.

Chumvi smirked. "Listen to your friend. After all if there was a fight I'd probably end up killing you."

Kula growled and stormed up to him. "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't get that properly. I don't speak idiot!" Everyone laughed as Chumvi's jaw dropped open but he quickly recovered. "I would say something back but I don't want to make you cry!"

"Let's go," Simba said after he finished laughing. "It's best to know you're way around in case of an emergency." Just as the group was about to leave, Ariya's voice called out to him.

"Simba!" Simba cringed, knowing that she would probably want to stay at Priderock and if he didn't stay with her she would probably get upset and then wait for an apology from him.

"We're going for a tour around the Pridelands, Ariya." Simba said. "Are you coming?"

"No," Ariya said. "Simba's let's stay at Priderock. They'll be fine without you." Ariya then lowered her voice. "We have to talk. You owe me an apology from yesterday and we haven't-"

"I don't owe you anything." Simba said. "And I'm going with them. You can come if you want. I don't really care." Ariya's eyes went wide but Simba didn't care. He was so done with her drama.

"Let's go," Simba said and he and the others made their way down Priderock.

Their tour around the Pridelands went well. Nala quickly began to like her new found friends. The males were nice and like any other males they were annoying but Nala was fine with it. She warmed up quickly to Malaika, Shani and Shinda. She liked Shani and Shinda better but Malaika was nice as well. The lionesses told her of the hunting party and how it went. They went all around the Pridelands and made sure to stay away from the borders in case the River Pride saw. By the time they were back the moon was already up.

The others went into the den and Nala was just about to go in when she saw Simba thinking by himself.

"Simba?" Nala asked. "Anything wrong?" Simba shook his head but Nala could tell that he as lying.

"Come on," Nala smirked. "Do I have to call Ariya and get it too force it out of you?"

"No!" Simba yelped. "Do not tell her. I already have my problems with her."

"What do you mean?" Nala asked.

Simba sighed. "Ariya isn't my type. I'm not interested in any of the lionesses here especially Ariya. She's clingy and too dramatic. And she expects way too much and we have nothing in common. I don't know how to choose this. It's my responsibility to marry her but I want to lead the rest of my life happily. But if I choose my life, I would be betraying my parents. What do I choose? My responsibility or my happiness?" His eyes looked sorrowful and Nala nodded.

"I felt the same way when I had to marry Thresh. I only chose my responsibility because there weren't any other lions that interested me. But after my father and mother told me the truth about the heir…I began to question it. It made me realize that there's more to life than just our responsibilities and growing up into what our parents want us to." Nala said. "I know that we owe our parents everything and they raised us and everything…but this is my life. I only get one chance at it. I want to lead my life happily and that means not following my responsibilities. It's a hard choice but I wanted to do this. I know that the decision is heavier when you're part of royalty but I wanted to lead my life happily. Not just set myself in some big plan."

Simba smiled wistfully. "You're right. I guess I just have to decide if it's my responsibility that matters the most or my happiness."

"Yeah," Nala smiled. "You'll have to."

"Is that a smile I see?" Simba asked, grinning at her and Nala chuckled.

"Don't get used to it." Nala said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight." Simba said and headed into the dens.

"Night," Nala called. She turned her attention back to the horizon where she could see the borders of the Pridelands and past that, the River Pride territory.

Her heart ached knowing that she had betrayed her father but she was still furious at him for denying her birthright. He just couldn't expect her to marry Thresh to save his kingdom when her real job was to take over as Queen All he really wanted was to save his reputation and no matter what, Sarafina would always defend him. Nala wouldn't stand for that. Runju had lied to her and now he would pay the price. She had now decided that she wanted to lead her life happily. After all, she only got once chance at it and she didn't want to waste it. She wished she could spend the rest of her life with Simba but he was taken. He had even told her that he wasn't interested in any lionesses from the Pride anyways.

With an aching her heart, the former Princess went into the dens to get some sleep.

**Hope you enjoyed and please review. Ariya's finally noticing that Simba's getting annoyed with her and at the worst possible time too…when Nala came to the Pridelands. And what's Runju going to say when he finds out that his daughter is in the Pridelands? Will he be angrier at Mufasa or Nala? Stay tuned to find out. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Here's chapter eight and please review. **

**Thanks to the following reviewers for reviewing: Doclover, AMBER, Asaf, Nala's fan, ThatTexasKid, TMNTMentalistTLK lover, and AaronAirG, **

The next morning, Nala was up bright and early. After getting a drink from the Waterhole she headed back up Priderock to see Simba coming out of the den.

"Morning," Simba said, blinking the sleepiness out of his eyes.

"Hey," Nala smiled.

"I'm going to do the patrol early today but I told Shinda to make sure that you, Tama, Kula and Shari are invited into the hunting party. Ariya's the future leader but…she's not the best with making new friends." Simba said.

Nala nodded. "Did you think about what we talked about last night?"

"Yeah," Simba said. "I'm not sure yet though. That's why I want to do the patrol by myself. It's peaceful."

"Alright then," Nala said. "I'll see you later."

"Bye," Simba said and headed down Priderock.

Just as Simba left, Nala felt someone behind her and she whirled around to see Ariya.

"Ariya?" Nala asked.

"Stay away from him!" Ariya warned.

"Who?" Nala asked.

"Simba!" Ariya growled. "He's my mate and I won't let you take him from me."  
"Your future mate," Nala corrected. "And I wasn't trying to take him. We were just talking."

"I heard you asking him if he thought about something you two talked about last night." Ariya demanded. "What did you talk about?"

Remembering how Simba had been frantic not to tell Ariya, Nala shook her head. "It was just something about being King."

"No it wasn't." Ariya said. "He talks about being King a lot. You're lying."

"Sorry," Nala said. "I can't tell you. I promised him that I wouldn't say a word to anyone."

Ariya glared at her for a minute before speaking up again. "Listen Riverside lioness; do not ever think that you belong here. King Mufasa only gave you a chance because we're lacking young females. I'm the future Queen and I have authority around here. I suggest that you behave yourself." With another growl she turned and left with Nala staring after her.

"Now I get why Simba doesn't like her." Nala muttered. She decided to let Ariya go for now. She was being protective of Simba and Nala guessed that if she had a mate to be, she would too.

"Nala?" Nala turned around to see Shinda and Shani coming up to her.

"Morning," Nala smiled at her new friends.

"Come on join us for hunting." Shani said. "If you're going to be part of the Pride you have to be part of the hunting party."

"Alright," Nala said and they went to where the rest of the young lionesses had gathered along with the older ones that were teaching them. Tama, Shari and Kula were already there. Ariya was at the head with Sarabi. She gave Nala a look of disgust that Nala returned with an intense glare.

"Is everyone here?" Chumvi's mother, Penda asked looking around. She nodded and began leading the lionesses out onto the hunting grounds.

"I know this is Ariya's job," Sarabi began. "But tell me, from all the herds you see, you can tell that they look the same. But which one would you hunt?"

There were a few murmurs from the lionesses but none of them really spoke up. Nala wondered why they didn't know. Shinda saw her and then leaned over to her. "A lot of us know but whenever we answer something that's supposed to be Ariya's job, she gets really mad and since she's too over dramatic it's just better to leave it."

"Oh," Nala said. She wondered how Ariya could be Queen like this.

"Is it the wildebeest herds?" Ariya asked, but Penda shook her head. Nala was debating on whether she should speak up or not.

"Nala?" Penda asked. "Do you know?"

"I...I well…" Nala stuttered, seeing Ariya glaring at her. But there was no way she would back down to her.

"We should go after the zebra herd. The way they are grouped together and the direction their facing is opposite of the wind so it would be easier." Nala answered her voice confident.

"Very well done Nala." Sarabi praised. "Were you the leader of the hunting party back home?"

"No," Nala said. "I wasn't."

Sarabi nodded and she and the rest of the older lionesses continued leading the younger lionesses to the herds. Nala saw her friends smiling at her and those that she didn't really know well looking at her with surprise. Ariya however was glaring at her but Nala only gave her a smug look before trotting after the others.

The hunt went well for Nala and with Tama, Shari and Kula's help; she brought down a large zebra. One the hunt was over, they regrouped. Shinda had also caught a zebra along with another lioness. Ariya and the others didn't have anything.

"Very well done you four." Penda smiled, looking at Nala, Tama, Shari and Kula. "We could certainly use additions like you to our hunting party."

"Nala," Sarabi said. "Perhaps you could help Ariya train. You're much better at it than I am and Ariya could use the help."

All the young lionesses were smirking and looking between Ariya and Nala. Nala could see Ariya glaring at her with hate in her eyes.

"Sure," Nala said, holding back a laugh. "I can help her."

The lionesses dragged the kills back to Priderock to feed. After they were done, Tama excused herself to go the Waterhole while Shari and Kula went off to the resting place. Nala didn't feel like joining them.

"Nala?" Simba came up to her. "How did the hunt go?"

"It went fine." Nala said.

Simba grinned. "My mother told me that she asked you to help Ariya with her hunting skills. I'm guessing Ariya wasn't too pleased about that."

Nala laughed. "She was furious. But I get why you don't like her."

"Yeah," Simba said, his expression growing more serious. "Wanna take a walk with me?"

"Sure," Nala said, her heart skipping a beat as she realized that she would have time with Simba.

The two of them made their way down Priderock chatting and enjoying themselves. After about half an hour, they were returning to Priderock.

"Chumvi said that he was going to go the resting place. Isn't Kula there too?" Simba asked.

Nala winced. "We should go make sure they haven't ripped each other apart yet." Just as they were about to go, Kudeka approached them.

"Nala." Kudeka said. "Do you mind coming with me? We have to talk."

"We do?" Nala asked then regained her composure. "Sure, I'll come." Simba was looking at Kudeka strangely as she and Nala headed off.

"What do we have to talk about?" Nala asked.

"How do you like it here?" Kudeka asked. "Is it too different from home?"

"Kind of." Nala said. "The different rules and all the new lions. But why did you want to talk?"

Kudeka didn't answer. "How are your parents doing back home? And your brothers?"

Nala gave her a confused look. "They're all fine I guess. But why do you ask?"  
"Is your father doing a good job as King?" Kudeka asked. "In your opinion I mean?"

Nala sighed. "I thought he was until he denied me my throne. But why are you asking this? Why do you care about my family?"

"Nala." Kudeka said looking at her. "I am your family."

"What?" Nala asked.

"Your father is my twin brother. I'm your aunt." Kudeka said, looking at her niece with a smile.

"What?" Nala exclaimed. "That's not true! My father and my mother never spoke about me having an aunt."

"It's because if your father did tell you, he would have to explain the backstory and believe me, he doesn't want to." Kudeka said.  
"What's the back story?" Nala asked.

"I was born into the River Pride." Kudeka said. "I grew up until I was a young lioness before I left."

"Why did you leave?" Nala asked.

"Your father was my twin brother. I was two minutes older than him." Kudeka said. "My father, although he wasn't the best father in the world, still made me the heir."

"Then how come my father is the King?" Nala asked.

"I didn't really want to be the Queen." Kudeka said. "Yet I accepted the job because it was my responsibility. Runju didn't want anything else than to be the King. My father wasn't much of a father and didn't do much to stop the tension between us. My mother did but she died from a hunting injury leaving no barrier between the two of us."

"What happened?" Nala asked.

"Your father kept trying to talk me into letting him be the King. I told him that I didn't want to be the Queen but I would because it was my responsibility." Kudeka said. "He eventually got so annoyed with me that he threatened me."

"How did he threaten you?" Nala asked.

"Many things." Kudeka said. "I wasn't scared of him and he lost it."

"What did he do?" Nala asked.

"He attacked me badly. I knew he wasn't trying to kill me but just scare me." Kudeka said. "His anger went out of control and he injured me more than he meant to. The look in his eyes told me that he was scared. He ran away from me out of fear."

"How did you save yourself?" Nala asked.

"The attack was by the border and I thought that I'd die there. But a Pridelander lion named Aman saved me. He was my first mate before Hariku." Kudeka said. "Aman dragged me into the Pridelands and took me to Rafiki for help. When I was strong enough to get up, he brought me to Mufasa who was only beginning his time as the King back then."

"Mufasa let you stay?" Nala asked and Kudeka nodded.

"He saw how injured I was and I told him of how Runju attacked me. He took me in because he knew if I was here, Runju would look bad." Kudeka replied. "Mufasa spread the word about Runju attacking me but Runju spread a lie saying that I had run away because I didn't want to be Queen. Most of the River Pride believed me because they always knew that I didn't want to be Queen. Now the story of me is gossiped throughout the kingdoms."

"He never even told me about this." Nala said, shaking her head.

"He probably made it a law that it wasn't to be spoken up. Your father and your mother will do anything to save their reputation." Kudeka said.

"But Kudeka…I mean…Auntie…" Nala stuttered. "I…"

"It's alright darling." Kudeka said, pulling her into an embrace. "Everything is going to be alright. You and your friends will be allowed to stay. I'm sure of that." Nala closed her eyes and sank into her aunt's embrace. No one had showed as much love as Kudeka was showing to her in such a long time.

"Just don't tell anyone about this yet though." Kudeka said. "Since I left the River Pride, I am no longer royalty and they have all probably forgotten that I am Runju's sister. I'm sure Mufasa and a few others remember but that's all. We will tell everyone once everything is settled." Nala nodded and they began making their way back home.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

A few nights later, Nala was out in the meadow taking in what Kudeka had told her. She couldn't believe that Runju had done that.

"Nala?" Simba came up to her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Nala said. "Why're you here?"

"I saw that you weren't in the den and I got worried." Simba said, and then his eyes went wide when he realized how he had said it.

"It's alright." Nala chuckled. "How did you know I was here though?"

"I knew you love sleeping outside under the stars so I figured that you'd be here." Simba said. It was amazing how they seemed to know so much about each other in such a short time.

Nala stared at him for a minute. Her heart was pounding with emotions. She wanted Simba so badly but he was with Ariya and there was nothing she could do about it. He would probably think she was crazy if he found out what she was thinking.

"Nala?" Simba said. "Something's wrong. What is it? You can tell me."

"Simba…" Nala said but her voice unexpectedly choked with tears. "I'm fine."

"Then why're you crying?" Simba asked. "Come on you can tell me anything. I won't get mad I promise."

Nala squeezed her eyes shut. _"This is it."_

"Simba," Nala said. "When you first told us at the border to join your Pride, when I first refused, it wasn't because we're from rebel Prides."

"Then?" Simba asked. "What made you not want to come?"

"It was you," Nala whispered.

"What?" Simba asked. "Me? Why?"

"Because…because from the moment we separated after we got home I realized…I realized that I…I…" Nala couldn't continue.

Simba came closer to her and put his paw on her to steady her. "What did you realize?"

"That I love you!" Nala blurted out. "But I knew that you were with Ariya and when you invited me to your Pride, I realized that I wouldn't be able to hide my feelings for you. "

"Nala…I…" Simba was in shock.

"I know that you belong with Ariya." Nala said. "But the worst thing is that I will never stop fighting for you Simba. I never will. No matter how old we get, or how our paths go, I will never stop fighting for you. Because I love you." Nala gave him another tearful look before she turned and bolted away.

"Nala!" Simba called. "Nala! Wait!" But she didn't stop.

Simba watched her go. "I love you too."

**I thought this was a good place to stop. Well they finally realized their feelings for each other. How do you think the others will react? Ariya? Stay tuned to find out. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's chapter nine and please review. I don't own The Lion King, Disney does.**

**I'd like to thank Guest, AMBER, Nala's fan, TMNTMentalistTLK lover, Asaf, Doclover, Keep Calm and Join Team Loki, and ThatTexasKid for reviewing. **

Meanwhile, back at Riverside Sarafina and Runju were talking in the royal den.

"You know she ran away." Sarafina hissed. "The fact that Tama, Shari and Kula are also gone proves it. They went together."

"I know," Runju sighed. "But what am I supposed to do? I can't send out search parties because they probably already travelled too far. But I can't not send them either. Everyone is going to get angry at me because Kula, Tama and Shari are missing too. But I can't tell everyone that Nala ran away because she found out that she was the rightful heir."

"You brought this upon yourself Runju." Sarafina said, shaking her head. "I told you that it would never work."

"You don't have to bring it up!" Runju snapped. "Right now, I'm trying to make sure that our Pride and our kingdom doesn't fall apart. We need Nala so we can get that land. King Asante will be angry when he realizes that Nala is gone."

"Is that all you care about?" Sarafina asked. "Our daughter is somewhere in the Outlands!"

"Sarafina I know that." Runju said. "But Nala is a strong lioness and so are the other three. They will find a way to stay safe and healthy. I know they will survive."

"I supposed your right." Sarafina sighed. "They are strong enough to survive. But are you not going to search for her?"

Runju thought for a moment. "I will look for her. But I will get the birds to organize a search party. They will fly over the Outlands and find Nala and her friends. Tama, Shari and Kula can stay in the Outlands or come back for a couple months before they have to leave. That's up to their parents. But Nala, she is going to come back and stay under our watch for every minute until we hand her over to Thresh!"

Sarafina looked at her mate. "Part of the reason that she left was because she didn't want to marry Thresh."

Runju ignored her comment. "I underestimated what Nala can do! I won't make the same mistake again!" Runju said clenching his teeth together. "When we find her, she will be under our watch every single minute! It will be like that until she is married off to Thresh."

Sarafina felt tears unlocking in her eyes. "But what if something already happened to her? Or the others?"

Runju's eyes softened as he pulled her in closer. "They are all strong. Nala's strong. They're okay, I promise."

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

Back in the Pridelands, Simba had begun searching for Nala. Although he wasn't having luck finding her, he couldn't keep the grin off his face. The lioness he had feelings for loved him back. It was a miracle.

Simba couldn't help but deny that he hadn't felt his feelings arise for Nala while they had been in the Outlands. He had pushed it down, telling him that he was being ridiculous. Back then he had only been focusing on his responsibilities. After returning to the Pridelands and after his argument with Ariya, he couldn't help but compare her to Nala, realizing how much better Nala was but again, he had secretly pushed it down. He was in the Pridelands and Nala had been in River Pride territory. But when he had seen Nala by the border with her friends, his spirits had lifted in a way that he had never felt before. And after their talk about responsibility verse life, he had stayed up nearly all night thinking about Nala.

How she and Simba both had the same problems and approached it in the same way.

The fire she carried in her eyes when she was determined.

Her silent but smart moves.

Her rebellious attitude that must have driven so many insane but yet Simba could laugh at it.

Her wisdom.

Everything that Simba loved about her.

It was that night that he had realized that he loved Nala. Their talk had silently been so much more than a talk.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

While Simba was still searching, Nala had sprinted as far away as she could before she had stopped.  
_"I can't believe I told him that! He's going to laugh at me!"_ Nala thought. _"I have to leave."_

Looking around, she realized that she was near the border. She began walking in between a lovely path with fruit trees bordering it and a sparkling pond ahead.

"Nala!" She could hear Simba's voice calling out for her.

"No!" Nala muttered and hurried ahead but suddenly Simba stepped out of the bushes and she bumped right into him.

"Nala?" Simba asked. "Why did you run?"

"I…I'm sorry." Nala said. "I shouldn't have told you that. You're intended and it's your responsibility to marry Ariya and run the kingdom. And I'm not going to stand in between that. If I won't stop fighting for you, I'm going to leave. It'll make it easier for both of us." She turned away from him, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to stop tears from streaming down her face.

Simba looked at her. "When we talked last night, I realized that you were right. There's more to life than doing what we're expected to do and following our responsibilities. I want to give up my responsibilities and lead my life happily. You made me realize that Nala. I want to follow my feelings. And my feelings are for you."

Nala whirled around and looked at Simba who was grinning at her.

"Yes idiot." Simba said. "I love you."

Nala hurled herself at Simba but he dodged her with a laugh

"You're never going to get me!" Simba laughed before walking over to her and pulling in closer. Nala buried her face into his mane as he licked the top of her head.

"I love you," Simba whispered.  
"I love you too." Nala murmured.

The two of them stayed that way for quite a while, nuzzling and holding each other, just happy to be with one another. Simba reluctantly pulled back.

"Believe me the last thing I expected was for you to return my feeling. I was too scared to tell you." Simba said.

Nala smiled at him wearily. "I could say the same thing." She licked his cheek.

"I thought I made a fool out of myself." Nala said, shaking her head.

Simba grinned. "You didn't except for that part when you ran away from me." Nala rolled her eyes before resting her head on his chest again.

Simba used his paw to cup Nala's chin and lifted her head up to look at him. "Did you actually think I wanted to be with Ariya?"

Nala shrugged. "Kind of since it was your responsibility and everything…"

Simba shook his head. "I'm done with her. If I can't stand her now, there is no way I will be able to deal with her when we're mates. I'm not going to be unhappy for the rest of my life just to follow my responsibility."

"So are you going to tell her?" Nala asked.

"Let's wait until my father gives you a permanent spot in our Pride. We can tell everyone a few weeks after that to make sure they don't suspect anything suspicious. I don't want to do this but it's the only way we can without causing a riot." Simba said.

"I know," Nala nodded. "It's okay. But just promise me you won't show any affection for Ariya around me."

Simba pulled her in closer and rubbed his muzzle against hers. "I promise. I will always keep you with me. I promise you that." Nala just buried her face into his neck.

Simba nuzzled her. "Come on, let's get back to Priderock before anyone starts worrying about us." Nala nodded and they headed back.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

The next morning Simba woke up to see Akila snoring beside him and a little way off from them, their parents were sleeping with Ajjali snuggled in between them.

Simba felt so happy and warm inside and he wondered why before he remembered what had happened last night. The smile stayed on his face for a few minutes as he thought of Nala.

"Why're you smiling like an idiot?" Akila was awake beside him.  
"Nothing," Simba said, but he couldn't get the smile off his face.

"Come on bro." Akila said. "You're lying. What happened?"

"Nothing," Simba said. He got up and Akila followed him out of the cave.

"Come on Simba, tell me." Akila said with a grin. "You came back to Priderock pretty late last night. Did you knock Ariya up or something?"

"What?!" Simba asked. "No! I didn't!"

Akila laughed. "Then what?"

"Nothing happened." Simba said. "Now shut up!"

"Alright, alright." Akila said. "I'll just ask Ariya when she wakes up."

"Akila don't." Simba warned. "I already have enough problems with her drama."

"Yeah I feel bad for you." Akila said. "She's too much."

Suddenly Ajjali trotted out of the cave. She didn't see her older brothers and with a mischievous grin, she headed down Priderock.

"Ajjali!" Akila called. "You're going to be in big trouble if you go by yourself. The sun isn't even fully up yet."

Ajjali jumped and whirled around to see Akila and Simba heading towards her. "I didn't see you two."

Simba smirked. "You don't see anything."

"Come on," Akila said. "Come with me and I won't tell Mom and Dad that you left without telling anyone."

"Alright," Ajjali said and Akila let her climb onto his neck. "Bye Simba."

"Bye." Simba called as they walked off.

A few minutes later, Simba saw Kula and Chumvi heading back to Priderock.

"Surprised to see that you two didn't kill each other while you were alone." Simba said, smirking at them.

Kula grinned. "I'm done trying to kill him. For the time being anyways."

Chumvi chuckled. "Let's see how long that lasts."

"So you two are friends?" Simba grinned, raising his eyebrows.

Kula shrugged. "Kind of." She walked into the cave.

"Are you actually?" Simba asked seeing Chumvi staring after her.

Chumvi smirked. "Kind of. She's cool and everything so why not?"

Simba patted his back. "Just don't get yourself killed buddy."

Chumvi grinned. "Oh you don't have to worry about me. We're the ones worrying about you and Ariya. How can you stand her?"

"I can't." Simba muttered. "But I have to."

"Let's just go on the patrol now." Chumvi said. "And get over it."

Simba sighed, "I don't really want to." Right now, all he wanted was to be with Nala.

Suddenly they heard voices from inside the cave. It was Ariya and Malaika.

"Sorry Malaika, I want to but I have to go find Simba and talk to him about something." Ariya was saying.

"Dammit!" Simba exclaimed. "Come on let's go!" He pulled Chumvi down on the rocks leading down Priderock.

"Where?" Chumvi asked.  
"On the patrol!" Simba said. "Hurry up! Before she sees me!" Chumvi laughed as they bounded down Priderock.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

About an hour later, Nala emerged out of the cave with Tama.

"Where were you last night?" Tama asked.

Nala shrugged, "Just walking around."

Tama looked at her skeptically. "By yourself?"

"Why not?" Nala asked.

"Because it doesn't seem like you." Tama said. "But whatever. Wanna know what Moraan told me yesterday?"

Nala smirked. "You know all you do these days is talk about Moraan. Anything going on between you two?"

"What?!" Tama exclaimed. "No! Spirits sake Nala, I just met him! Anyways we had the best convo."

"What did you talk about?" Nala asked. Before Tama could answer, Sarabi came up to them.

"Good morning Sarabi." Nala smiled and Tama followed her gesture.

"Morning to both of you. Sleep well?" Sarabi asked with a warm smile. Sarabi treated them like they were already full members of the Pride despite them being from rival Prides and Mufasa not given the final word as to if they could stay or not.

"Very well." Tama nodded.

"Nala," Sarabi said. "I was hoping you could help Ariya with her training. You're much better than I am and I would like Ariya to learn some skills from you. Tama, you, Kula and Shari can also help. All four of you are the best at hunting from what I've seen."

"Sure we'll help her." Nala said. "Do you want me to find her and start now?"

"If you could." Sarabi nodded. "Thank you."

"No problem." Nala said as she and Tama headed off to find Ariya.

"There is no way I'm dealing with her." Tama muttered.

"Come on Tama." Nala said. "She isn't that bad."

Tama laughed. "Are you serious? I feel sorry for Simba."

"Alright then, I'll train her myself." Nala said.

"I would join you," Tama said. "But I was hoping to find Moraan and…"

Nala gave Tama a knowing grin. "Have fun."

"I will." Tama said and trotted away. Nala found Ariya heading back from the Waterhole.

"Ariya!" Nala called, heading towards her.

"What is it Nala?" Ariya asked.

"Sarabi asked me to help you with hunting training." Nala said. "She wants us to start now."

"I don't need your help." Ariya said. "And I'm busy. I have to find Simba."

Nala felt a pang of jealousy go through her although she knew Simba wasn't interested in Ariya. "Why?"

Ariya rolled her eyes. "Maybe because he's my future mate and we enjoy spending time together."

"_You wish,"_ Nala thought holding back her laughter.

"Doesn't matter." Nala said. "Just find him later. He's probably doing the patrol or something. And Sarabi said for us to start now."

Ariya sighed. "Fine let's go."

After a few hours, Nala had tried helping Ariya. She hadn't really bothered to take Nala's advice and seemed uninterested. Every time Nala pointed out a fault, they would get in an argument until Nala stopped telling her what she was doing wrong. She had then tried showing Ariya her hunting skills but Ariya hadn't been able to do them. Nala was wondering how she could tell Sarabi that Ariya was just un fit to the hunting party leader.

Later that day, Nala returned to Priderock to look for Simba. Ariya had gone off to look for Malaika and Nala was glad she would be away from Simba. She tracked him down under a tree near Priderock. Although it was somewhat in the open, it was also private enough for them to be alone.

"Hey," Simba smiled when he saw her. Nala rubbed her head against his and Simba gave her nose a lick as they pulled back.

"Where were you all morning?" Simba asked.

"Your mother asked me to give Ariya some hunting training…but it didn't go so well." Nala said with a chuckle. "I don't know how she's going to be the leader like this."

Simba nuzzled her. "She's not. You are." Nala licked his cheek.

The two of them continued chatting for a few minutes before Zazu flew up to them.

"Simba," Zazu said. "Your father wants you and your brother to deal with some crisis between the rhinos and the elephants. Hurry up he's waiting." Zazu then flew away to find Akila.

Simba sighed and rubbed his cheek against Nala's. "Sorry sweetie but I have to deal with this. I'll spend some time with you this evening, I promise."

"Alright," Nala said, nuzzling his cheek with her nose before Simba turned and trotted off.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

Two weeks passed before Mufasa announced that Nala and her friends were officially part of the Pride. Simba told her that he planned on spreading the word about it to other kingdoms soon but Simba promised Nala that he would try to stop it. Nala had noticed that Ariya looked furious but she was in too much of a good mood to care. She and Simba spent a lot of time together secretly and they were waiting to tell everyone in a few weeks.

Shari had managed to find out that Nala and Simba were together. She had overheard them talking and confronted Nala about it later. Despite being surprised at Nala, Shari was happy for her friend and promised not to say a word. A few days after that, Shinda found out after seeing Nala and Simba together. She had also promised not to tell and was happy that they were together. Other than that, no one else knew.

Meanwhile back in the River Pride, Runju's searches for Nala and her friends had been useless. There was no sign of them. One day, he went to meet with King Asante.

"Runju?" Asante asked when he saw her. "What was the emergency we had to talk about?"

Runju sighed. "It's about the bargain we made. I'm afraid that Nala went missing."

Asante narrowed his eye, "What?"

Runju debated on telling him the truth or lying, but he figured telling the truth would be easier than having to spin a lie then weaving more lies to cover that up.

"About three weeks ago," Runju said. "We got into a big argument and she got quite upset. She and three of her friends disappeared the day after and we still haven't found her."

"Do you need more search parties?" Asante asked.

Runju shook his head. "We've searched everywhere in the Outland. I sent all my flying search parties out and after three weeks of looking all day and night, they haven't reported any signs of them."

Asante was silent for a moment before he spoke. "You and I made a deal and I gave you the better end of it. All I asked was for your daughter and I was willing to give you more land and herds, more than you need. Runju, I want her here in three months to find her and bring her here to marry my son. There were many lionesses from other kingdoms that were willing to give me much more than you did but yet I declined everything because you needed the land. Nala and Thresh were to be announced mate sin three months. If she isn't here in exactly three months, you will pay the price." His eyes were full of anger.

Runju sucked his breath in. "Very well. I will find her and have her back in three months."

With another gruff nod, Runju turned and headed back to Riverside.

A few hours later, Sarafina was returning to Riverside after an unsuccessful hunting trip. She was about to go check up on her sons when she heard an ear-splitting roar from the royal den. It belonged to Runju. The entire Pride stopped what they were doing to see what had happened.

"I'll go see what's wrong." Sarafina said and hurried inside the cave to see Runju shouting at his major domo, Ruka.

"Are you sure?" Runju yelled.

"Positive sire." Ruka replied as he shook with fear from Runju's anger. "I saw them myself."

Runju paced inside the den growling and clawing. "That traitor! My own daughter!"

"Runju what happened?" Sarafina asked. She nodded at Ruka, telling him to leave and he did.

"Ruka saw Nala, Tama, Shari and Kula in the Pridelands! They're part of Mufasa's Pride now!" Runju roared angrily and Sarafina gasped. Had Nala betrayed them like that?

"No." Sarafina said, shaking her head. "She wouldn't have done that."

"She did!" Runju growled. "Ruka listened to them talking and apparently Mufasa has accepted them as full Pride members."

Sarafina squeezed her eyes shut. _"Nala, what have you done? Why Mufasa's Pride out of everyone?"_

"I am going to get her back!" Runju growled. "Right now!"

"Wait, you're organizing war?" Sarafina asked.

"No," Runju hissed. "Not yet. But if Mufasa doesn't hand Nala over I'm going to wage war. He won't stand a chance against Asante and I."

"When are we going to go to the border?" Sarafina asked.

"Right now!" Runju shouted. "Get Tama, Kula and Shari's parents!"

Sarafina nodded and hurried out of the den.

**Hope you enjoyed and please review. Wow, so Runju is REALLY mad. But Nala got accepted as a full Pride member! But how will Runju get her back? What if Simba and Nala run away together?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Here's chapter ten and please review. **

**I'd like to thank the following reviewers: AMBER, Nala's fan, Keep Calm and Join Team Loki, ThatTexasKid, Asaf, and TMNTMentalistTLK lover for reviewing. **

**A few more reviews would be awesome **

Nala was at Priderock talking with Mufasa. He had warmed up quickly to her and now treated her like the full Pride member she was.

"How's Ariya's training going?" Mufasa asked. Just as Nala was about to answer, Akila and Simba came charging up to them followed by Tama, Shari and Kula.

"Dad!" Simba called. "King Runju's at our border!"

"What?" Nala gasped.

Akila nodded. "He knows you four are here."

"I thought you weren't going to spread the word yet." Simba snapped looking at Mufasa. 

"Simba I didn't." Mufasa said, shaking his head. "Only our Pride knows. How could Runju have found out?"

"Doesn't matter." Akila said. "You have to go deal with him right now."

"I know," Mufasa said and all of them bounded towards the border.

When they got there, Tojo, Alex, Moraan, Chumvi and Amri were already there along with Sarabi, Kudeka, Penda and Danya. Chumvi's father, Ishan and Hariku were also there to give Mufasa some help. Runju and those he had brought along had already crossed the river.

Nala saw her parents looking at her. Runju looked furious while Sarafina was looking at her with disbelief. Nala felt her legs shaking and Simba came at her side, ready to defend her.

Tama, Shari and Kula's parents saw their daughters.

"Tama!" Tama's mother, Afiya stepped forward but Runju motioned for her to stay back.

"Runju!" Mufasa growled. "I'm giving you one chance. Get off my lands!"

"I will go." Runju snarled. "Once you give me my daughter back! You had some nerve taking her from me!"

"I took her?" Mufasa demanded. "Your daughter asked me to provide her with a Pride after what you did to her!"  
Runju let out a roar of anger but it was directed at Nala. "You traitor!" Simba growled at Runju, but Nala held him back.

"Nala come forward." Mufasa said and Nala went to Mufasa's side.

"How could you?" Runju growled at her. "You betrayed us after everything we did for you!"

"You took my birthright!" Nala hissed. "You lied and told me that it was my responsibility to marry Thresh to save our Pride but my real responsibility is to be the Queen! I'm not going to throw away my happiness to save your reputation!"

Runju snarled at Nala. "You foolish lioness! You betrayed your own father and joined the enemy?"

Nala narrowed her eyes. "That's the past! Whatever rivalry we had is in the past. You have to let it go!"

"Doesn't matter!" Runju growled. "You are coming home with us right now!"

"No I'm not!" Nala said. "My place is here."

Runju shook his head. "I'm your father Nala and you have no choice. We are taking you back."

"No you aren't." Mufasa growled. "She's part of our Pride and is under our protection. The only King that can tell her what to do is me!"

Runju growled realizing that Nala was under protection under the Pridelands. The law was the same for every Pride. Once a lion or a lioness was part of the Pride, they belonged to that Pride and nothing could change that unless they left or if they were sent under the King's orders. He couldn't mess with the common law.

Runju turned to Mufasa. "I'm giving you two weeks. In two weeks she must be handed over to me under your orders. If not, both King Asante and I will wage war on you and you know you won't stand a chance against us."

"We'll see about that!" Mufasa growled. "Now get out!"

Runju turned to Tama, Kula, and Shari. "You three! As for you three traitors, whether you stay or not are to be determined by your parents. Talk to them now before we leave."

Runju turned away and Nala looked at her mother, hoping to see any signs of worry or love for Nala. But there wasn't. The only thing that Nala could see in her eyes was hate and disgust.

An hour later, they were all back at Priderock. Nala had a headache as she thought about what her father would do.

"What did your parents say?" Nala asked, turning to her friends.

Kula sighed. "They said that we have two weeks to get back as well. Apparently they're fine with us getting accepted into any Pride except this one. They just can't get past our rivalry."

Tama nodded. "But I don't want to leave this Pride. I think I already found my mate." She motioned to Moraan.

"I knew you would end up with him." Shari smirked.

"I have to get a breather." Nala muttered and walked out of the den. It was sunset and she wandered into the meadow, hoping to find Simba. She was glad to see him heading back to Priderock.

"How're you feeling?" Simba asked when he saw her. Looking around to make sure that no one was around, he wrapped his paw around her and pulled her in closer.

Nala sighed and buried her face into his neck and Simba nuzzled the back of her ears.

"Why is he doing this?" Nala asked, shaking his head. "He's my father…he should be happy if I'm happy!" She felt a lump in her throat.

"Life isn't always fair." Simba murmured. "There are just some parents who wants their children's happiness and some that want their protection more than happiness. And there are some parents who just want to save their reputation. We all just end up with one of those types. And I'm sorry that you ended up with one of the worse type."

"So is your father going to hand me over?" Nala asked.

"I don't know." Simba said. "It would save him the trouble from war but if he hands you over, it's going to look bad on him that he gave into what Runju wants. But I won't let you or your friends go. I promise."

"But I can't cause this much trouble for your Pride." Nala frowned. "It's not fair for you."

"But if my father hands you over, everyone's going know that he got defeated by Runju and believe me he doesn't want that to happen." Simba said. "I'll talk to him."

Nala nodded, "Let's go back to Priderock."

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

The next morning, Simba found his father by the Waterhole.

"Dad?" Simba asked, walking up to him. "Have you made up your mind?"

"I don't know." Mufasa sighed. "We won't stand a chance against both Runju and Asante but if hand Nala over, Runju will have defeated me and I can't let that happen." 

"Can't we call in alliances from other Prides?" Simba asked.

"I can already guarantee you that Runju and Asante spread word to the other Prides not to ally with me. Even if they didn't, other Pride's would have a hard time choosing since they know that we are from rival Prides."

"So how are we going to win the war?" Simba asked.

"Simba," Mufasa said. "There may be no war. Although the last thing I want to do is give into what Runju wants, I can't imagine winning the war. We might have to hand Nala over. I can't risk getting my Pride killed because of her."

"No!" Simba exclaimed. "We have to fight!"

"I can't let our Pride be killed!" Mufasa said. "We won't stand a chance against Runju and Asante!"

"We can't hand Nala over!" Simba growled. "She has to stay! We can't just give into Runju!"

Mufasa narrowed his eyes. "Why is it so important to you that she stays?"

"Because she saved my life." Simba said.

"And you will lose your life along with lives of our Pride if you fight for her!" Mufasa growled. "You also helped her and therefore you two are even."

Simba shook his head. "She can't leave! Neither can the other three."

"Runju isn't as concerned with Tama, Shari and Kula. They have a higher chance of staying. Their fate will be determined by their parents, not Runju."

"Nala won't leave either! I won't let her!"

"What is going on with you!?" Mufasa growled. "I thought I trained you better than this! You should be able to make this decision!"

"She isn't going to leave!" Simba snarled, clawing at the grass.

"Why is she so important to you?" Mufasa demanded and Simba fell silent for a minute. 

"Because I want her to be my mate." Simba said his voice quiet.

Mufasa looked shock and his eyes went wide. "Never! I already accepted her into the Pride but no matter what, she had River Pride blood in her! A son of mine will never mate her!"

"Let go of the past!" Simba snapped. "Whatever rivalry we had was in the past. You have to let it go!"

"You are out of your mind!" Mufasa snarled. "Simba you have responsibilities! You have to marry Ariya and take your place as King!"

"But I also want my happiness!" Simba snapped. "And my happiness is with Nala."

"I expect you to follow your responsibilities and become the King. We can't have our future King mate Runju's daughter!"

"Then my brother can rule the kingdom." Simba said, slamming his foot down. "I want to be with Nala and be happy!"

Mufasa roared at him. "You will not throw away everything we ever wanted for you just because of a lioness! You will stay here, marry Ariya and become the King."

"How about Nala?" Simba asked.

"I think I'll have to hand her over but I'm not sure yet." Mufasa said and looked at Simba's upset face. "And if you keep arguing with me any chance of Nala staying will be gone! I'd rather have Runju defeat me but still keep you in line!" Mufasa gave him another look before going back to Priderock.

Simba stayed where he was in deep thought. He and Nala were completely stuck. If they handed Nala over, Simba would lose her. If they didn't hand Nala over, his Pride would be killed. If he kept trying to negotiate with his father he would surely send Nala away to keep him in line.

"_We could run away," _Simba thought. _"But if we do, our Prides will be divided forever."_

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

Nala was at the border late in the afternoon that day, looking for Simba. Wondering if he was patrolling by the river, Nala headed that way. She found someone but it wasn't Simba.

It was Runju.

"Dad?" Nala asked, freezing in her spot.

"Nala," Runju nodded. "Come here, I want to talk to you."

"I don't trust you." Nala said, shaking her head.

"Nala, I won't hurt you." Runju assured. "Just come here."

Nala crossed the river and Runju smiled. "We have to talk."

"You can't wage war on Mufasa." Nala said. "They won't stand a chance."

"All the more reason for you to come back." Runju said. "As for the other three, I will have them brought back here soon. Whether they like it or not."

Nala just growled at him. 

"Listen to me." Runju said. "Your mother and I can tell that you've…you've grown very fond of Simba. We saw it from the way you two were at our confrontation." Nala's eyes went wide and Runju gave her a knowing look.

"Nala," Runju said. "When you love someone, you want the best for them. That's what your mother and I want for you but you just don't understand. I'm sure that's what you want for Simba too, isn't it?"

"What are you talking about?" Nala asked.

Runju gave her a cold look. "You are going to tell Simba that you don't love him and that you don't want to be part of his Pride because you are loyal to me. And you will not tell him that I told you to tell him either. " He wanted to make sure that Simba thought that Nala had no feelings for him.

Nala glared at him. "And why would I do that?"

"Because if you don't I will kill Simba!" Runju growled.

Nala's eyes went wide. "No…no…you wouldn't."

"Yes I will." Runju growled. "Mufasa won't be able to do anything about it. He doesn't stand a chance against Asante and me. I have a thousand ways I could kill him."

Nala squeezed her eyes shut as she realized she would have to tell Simba. Runju wouldn't hesitate to kill him. He had been heartless enough to attack his own sister. What would stop him from killing his enemy's son?

"I tell him what you told me to tell him and he lives?" Nala asked. "Is that the deal you want to make?"

"Yes." Runju said. "And I won't break it. I promise. Tel him and be back at Riverside by nightfall."

"Then congratulations." Nala said. "You've won." She turned back to go into the Pridelands and tell Simba.

"Good girl." Runju said softly from beside her and it took all of Nala's self-control not to whip him in the face.

Silently crying to herself, Nala headed into the Pridelands to find Simba.

**Hope you enjoyed and please review. So this is Runju's way of bringing Nala back. What do you think?**


	11. Chapter 11

**Here's chapter eleven and please review.**

**Thanks to the following reviewers:**

**TMNTMentalistTLK lover: Yeah, I hate Runju too. I mean he's hurting his own daughter right? But let's not forget that Mufasa would do something similar if Simba left. And yeah, they should run away but will they be able to do that? You have a good hunch that Simba won't believe Nala. We'll just find out in this chapter. Thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter. **

**Nala's fan: I'm glad you loved the chapter. LOL I can't believe Nala's going to do what her father says either. It's just so unfair like you said. Guess it shows you just how much she loves Simba, huh? Thanks for the review and I hope you like the chapter. **

**Cadyn Brewer-Sidelia Miller: Maybe or maybe not ;). You'll just have to keep reading to find out. Thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter. **

**ThatTexasKid: Yeah I know it does but don't worry, one way or another everything will pull through? Or will it? You'll just have to wait and see. And yup, I get what you mean. And I guess everyone else other than the ones you mentioned do seem to be very unlikable but hey, I guess that's how it is if you can't get over the rivalry. Anyways, thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy the chapter. **

**Almondbutter: Yeah Simba might just be strong enough to kill Runju. But let's not forget that he has too much of a noble heart to do so. And maybe they will run away and maybe they won't. You'll just have to wait and see. Thanks for the review and I hope you like this chapter. **

**Keep Calm And Join Team Loki: Yeah she shouldn't but if she does tell Simba the truth, Runju will kill Simba for sure. Heartbreaking huh? Thanks so much for the review and I hope you enjoy the chapter. **

**balto90: LOL I love those quotes and sayings you add into your reviews. I'm glad you like this story so far and thanks for the review. Enjoy the chapter my friend. **

**Asaf: Yup he is. But don't forget that it's just because they are from rival Prides and Mufasa would probably do the same thing to keep Simba in line. I guess I've kind of bolded Runju as the bad guy too much even though he's only acting that way because they are from rival Prides. Anyways, you will find out how Simba reacts in this chapter or if he suspects anything. Thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter. **

**AMBER: LOL let's see what happens in this chapter. Thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter. **

With a broken heart, Nala looked around until she found Simba.

"Nala," Simba said, and made his way towards her. He licked his cheek and Nala gave him a nuzzle. Her heart was pounding. How could she hurt him like this? He hadn't done anything to her.

But she loved Simba and Nala knew that if she loved him, she would do what was best for him.

"So where were you?" Simba asked.

"Simba," Nala said. "We have to talk."

"Sure," Simba said. "About what?"

"I can't do this." Nala said, shaking her head. "I can't be with you."

"What?" Simba asked, his eyes struck with shock and hurt. "Why?"

"I don't love you." Nala said, tears forming in her eyes. "This can't go on."

"Nala…." Simba's voice trailed off in disbelief.

"Simba think about it." Nala said tearfully. "We're from rival Pride's. We have to follow our responsibilities. You have to be the King with Ariya as your Queen and I have to marry Thresh so my father can get the land he needs. We were fools to think that it could actually happen."

"I thought you said-"

"Forget about what I said!" Nala cried. "We were wrong! I can't be with you and I don't love you either! It just wasn't meant to be."

Simba was just staring at her. Nala had never seen him so hurt and it only caused more tears and pain for her.

"I'm going back to my father's territory." Nala whispered. "I'm going to marry Thresh and forget about you. Because I don't love you."

With another tearful glance, Nala turned and charged towards the border, sobbing. She wanted to kill herself for hurting Simba like that. She had never seen him in such pain. What had she done?!

"_It was for the best."_ Nala thought. _"That was the only way that he would have been able to live!"_

Her legs felt as heavy as her heart as she crossed the river and headed over to Riverside. The sun had set and the stars were beginning to come out.

As she reached Riverside, most of the Pride was waiting for her. Runju was at the front with Sarafina.

Runju smiled when he saw her. "Good girl. Now go into the den and we'll talk soon."

Nala couldn't bring herself to say anything. Her throat was choked up and her head felt dizzy. She wanted to sleep but every time she closed her eyes, Simba's heartbroken face flashed through her mind.

And it still broke Nala's heart each and every time.

Crashing on the ground, she began to weep, wanting nothing else but Simba to be with her. She heard her father talking outside and she quieted down to listen to what he was saying.

"From now on Nala will be under our watch at all times. If Sarafina and I cannot keep an eye on her, the rest of you must! She may not go hunting without the hunting party and during that time someone must keep an eye on her at all times! This will go on until she is married to Thresh. " Runju ordered. "Am I clear?"

Nala heard the murmurs of agreement from the rest of the Pride before Runju and Sarafina headed into the den that the royal family used.

"Nala," Runju ordered. "Look at us."

Nala didn't lift her head until she felt Runju roughly pulling her onto her paws.

"Listen to me!" Runju growled. "What you did was high treason and rightfully you shouldn't be allowed to be back!"

"But you went against the laws again just to get that land from Asante." Nala snapped and Runju's glared at her.

"Nala, we saved you." Sarafina said. "You're young and know nothing about life. You may think that you love him and he loves you but in the end, he is just a Pridelander. A lion from a rival Pride."

"But I love him!" Nala hissed through her tears. "I didn't ask for much! All I want is to be happy!"

"Nonsense!" Runju snarled. "I won't have my daughter anywhere near Mufasa's son!"

"He's more than that!" Nala hissed. "He is ten times more of a lion that you are!"

"Enough!" Runju growled. "We saved you tonight Nala! You may not understand that now but someday you will. Now dry up those tears and get ready for your future! In three months' time you will marry Thresh and be free! Until then, you're under our watch. Try anything and you know what I will do." He turned and stormed out of the den.

Nala and Sarafina were silent until Nala spoke up. "You're just going go with everything he says, aren't you?" She already knew the answer.

"Don't be so foolish Nala!" Sarafina hissed. "He's your father! He loves you!"

"He threated to kill the lion that I love!" Nala cried.

"We did that for your best! You're just too selfish to see that!" Sarafina growled. "Now stop crying and act like a Princess! I ashamed that daughter of mine would do this!"

Nala looked at her mother with a breaking heart. Sarafina would never defend her. No matter what, she would always side with Runju. She would always let Runju make the decisions for her.

Nala glared at her. "I may not be the lioness you want me to be but unlike you, I am a lioness that can make decisions for me!"

Sarafina growled at her before she turned and headed out of the den.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

The next day back in King Asante's territory, he had received word that Nala was back in the Pridelands. He had been surprised to hear that she had been in Mufasa's Pride, her father's enemy. Runju's messenger, Ruka had told him everything and had also told him that the she had gone to the Pridelands in the first place was because Prince Simba owed her.

"_What if she tries to go back?"_ Asante thought. _"If Simba has a soft spot for her, Nala could always leave again after she and Thresh become mates. Runju will blame us. I have to make sure that she can never go back to the Pridelands."_

Another idea struck his head. A way to make sure that Mufasa would never let the River Pride lions come into the Pridelands ever again. He couldn't let Runju know he was doing this. He would be furious if he found out. But even if he did, he had no choice. Runju was in need of the land and the herds. Besides if the plan worked, the other three River Pride lionesses that were in the Pridelands would have no choice but to go back home and that would be doing Runju a favor.

"I just need to gather our best fighters and tell them." Asante muttered and began heading back home to tell them of his idea.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

Meanwhile, Runju had sent a messenger to Mufasa telling him the exact thing that Nala had said to Simba but leaving out the part about their feelings.

Sarabi saw her mate thinking to himself and trotted over to him. "What's wrong?"

"Nala went back to the River Pride." Mufasa said. "Runju sent a messenger saying that Nala had said that she wanted to be loyal to her Pride and her father."

Sarabi frowned. "Then why do you look so upset?"

"First of all," Mufasa said. "I'm beginning to wonder why I accepted her and the other three. They are from the River Pride. What if she told Runju something about us?"

"Like what?" Sarabi asked. "We didn't say anything in front of her."

"I suppose," Mufasa sighed. "But the other thing is that Simba has feelings for her."

"What?" Sarabi gasped. "How do you know?"

"Because he told me himself." Mufasa said. "He doesn't want to mate Ariya and he doesn't want to be the King either. All he wants is to be happy with Nala."

"That's not a problem now then." Sarabi said. "Since Nala left."

"I know," Mufasa said. "I'm going to try and keep an eye out for him though. Knowing him he might do something unexpected."

Sarabi nodded and the two of them went to find their oldest son.

TLTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKLTKLKTLK

Two nights later, Simba was by himself in the meadow. His heart clenched every time as he thought of what Nala had told him.

"_Was it all fake?"_ Simba wondered. _"Was everything we had faked? Was it all just a lie? Why would she lie?" _Simba squeezed his eyes shut, holding back tears. He loved Nala more than anything. What had happened?

"I didn't ask for much," Simba whispered into the stars, wishing that the spirits in the stars would help him. "All I wanted was to be happy with the lioness I loved. Why is so hard?"

"_Why would she say that if she loves me?" _Simba thought.

"Wait," Simba muttered. "Why would she say that?" He all of a sudden wondered why. After everything Nala had told him while they were in love, Simba knew that none of that had been fake. Why had she all of a sudden told him that? And left the Pridelands.

"Something's not right," Simba said to himself. "The way this happened. It's not right. Nala wouldn't hurt me like that. She's hiding something."

Without hesitation, Simba turned and headed towards the border.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

Meanwhile, Nala was in the den with Sarafina. Runju had taken Mheetu and Hofu out for some time together. Sarafina had wanted to go and they had invited Nala but Nala refused which made Sarafina stay in the den to watch over her.

Nala lay down, facing away from her mother. The fur around her eyes was matted with the tears she had shed. But now, she had no more tears or energy to cry for her. All that was left was an aching heart.

She was just as angry with Sarafina as she was angry with Runju. No matter what, Nala knew that her mother would always support Runju. Sarafina didn't want Nala's happiness either. All she wanted was for her reputation to be saved and for Nala to follow her responsibilities.

"Nala," Sarafina said, breaking the silence in between them. "I know your hurting now but we saved you from making a big mistake. At your age…you just think that…you live in a fairy-tale but this is reality. You have to follow your responsibilities. And you have to think about the family. Your father needs that land. Don't be so selfish."

"So how about my happiness?" Nala sniffed. "Am I just supposed to forget about Simba?"

"Yes," Sarafina said. "When you marry Thresh, you will be happy with the decision you made. Maybe not right away but soon. You'll understand someday. I know you think that I'm a bad mother…but for my children's happiness, I will do anything. Even if they don't like it."

"_Wow,"_ Nala thought. _"So true Mother. That's exactly why you let Father take away my birthright, lie to me for my entire life then take me away from the lion I love."_

"I have to go to take a drink." Sarafina said. "Come with me."

"No," Nala muttered.

Sarafina sighed at her daughter. She wasn't supposed to leave Nala alone but a quick trip to the river wouldn't hurt. It was right in front of the dens anyways. Giving Nala a look, she turned and went to get some water.

Nala watched her go and suddenly felt someone coming up behind her. She whirled around and gasped when she saw who it was.

"Simba!" Nala gasped.

"Nala," Simba tried to nuzzle her but Nala jerked away still in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" Nala hissed. "If my father catches you, you will be dead."

"I snuck in through the back," Simba said, motioning to the hole he had squeezed through. "Listen, what you told me the other day, I don't believe you."

Nala stared at him. She had to hold the smile off her face. He didn't believe her. He still loved her.

But Nala knew it couldn't happen. Her father would kill Simba and Nala loved Simba too much to let him be killed.

"Simba." Nala said, trying to hold back tears as she realized that she would have to hurt him again. "I don't love you. Now leave before my parents or anyone else catches you."

"If you didn't love me, you wouldn't be so concerned about my safety." Simba said. It was obvious that he didn't believe her. Nala stared at him in surprise.

"Meet me at the western border that leads into the Outlands. If you still love, me meet me there." Simba said. "If you don't love me, don't come and I'll leave you alone for the rest of your life. I promise. I'll wait for half an hour." He licked Nala's cheek before hurrying out of the back of the den again. Nala just stayed where she was, still a bit stunned.

Nala heard Sarafina's paw steps and she lay down on the ground again as Sarafina came back in.

"Mom," Nala said. "Ruka flew in looking for you. He said that Dad gave him a message to tell you. I told him you went to the river and he went looking for you."

Sarafina frowned. "Strange. I didn't see him."

"Probably because it's dark. He still might be looking for you. You should go see." Nala said, hoping Sarafina would buy her lie.

Sarafina looked at her. "I shouldn't be leaving you alone…"

"I'm not going to sneak out." Nala shrugged. "You went earlier and I didn't."

"Alright," Sarafina said. "I'll be right back."

Sarafina left the den and Nala jumped onto her paws and squeezed out of the hole in the back. Making sure no one could see her, she turned and bounded towards the border.

**Hope you enjoyed and please review. Okay so a lot of the reviews have been saying something bad about Runju. I have kind of bolded him out as the problem when he really isn't the problem. Sure he has a thing against females being the heir but he's only acting this way because him and Mufasa are rivals. Mufasa would do something just as bad if Nala was his daughter. Can anyone tell what the REAL problem is? So will Simba and Nala reunite? Or will Runju or Mufasa find Simba before she does? Stay tuned to find out!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Here's chapter twelve and please review. **

**Also thanks to the following reviewers:**

**TMNTMentalistTLK lover: Yup, maybe Simba and Nala will be able to be together. Maybe fate will be cruel enough to rip them apart. You'll just have to wait out and see. By the way, you are right, Asante is a problem but the real problem is the rivalry between the two Prides. And like you said, hopefully Simba and Nala will be able to convince their fathers not to be enemies but how far will they go to ensure that? Anyways, thanks for the review.**

**ThatTexasKid: Hahaha, yup we need a meditator in this conflict. I think we are all glad that she decided to meet up with Simba and you'll find out how their meeting goes in this chapter. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy the chapter. **

**Keep Calm and Join Team Loki: Yeah hopefully she does. You'll find out in this chapter. Sooooooo keep scrolling and read the chapter! Thanks for the review by the way.**

**almondbutter: Yes you are right. The real problem is the grudges between the two Prides. Thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter. **

**Nala's fan: No problem I like explaining my characters. Your questions/wonders will be answered in this chapter. Thanks for the review and I hope you like this chapter. (You put in three reviews right?)**

**AMBER: Maybe they will or maybe they won't. And maybe Simba will bump into Runju. They haven't exactly met yet. Keep reading to find out. Thanks for the compliments and encouragements along with the review. Hope you enjoy the chapter.**

**Doclover: Well they are truly in love so the possibilities of that are high but who knows? And the Pride's history might be revealed but it might not. Thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter.**

**balto90: Lol its fine. Thanks for the review and I hope you like this chapter. **

**Guest: Yup they can be pretty strict but then again they want what they think is the best for Nala. And hopefully you find this one happier than the last. I'm pretty sure you will. Thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter. **

**BlackLouie: Glad your back. And the real problem is the rivalry between the two Prides. They just can't stand each other. Thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter**

**Guest: Sorry this chapter was soooooo late but I've been really busy. I hope you like this chapter and thanks for reviewing. **

Nala ran as fast as she could to the border and her heart soared when she saw Simba there. He gave her his ever so familiar smirk.  
"I knew you couldn't stay away from me!" Simba said.

"Oh you wish!" Nala chuckled, but she pulled his face toward her, covering his face with licks and nuzzles.

"How come you told me that?" Simba asked, after they pulled back. Nala knew what he was referring to.

"Because my father told me that if I didn't, he would kill you." Nala said. "And I know him well enough to know that he will."

Simba growled. "I'm going to confront him right now!"

"Simba no!" Nala pulled him back. "We won't stand a chance. Any minute the Pride will start looking for me now. My mother probably already figured out that I'm gone. I have to go back to Riverside and make some excuse. My father warned me that if I ever tried anything that he would kill you."

"No," Simba said. "I'm not letting you go again."

"Simba if I don't he's going to kill you!" Nala exclaimed. "I have no choice!"

"Yes you do." Simba said. "We can run away together!"

"What?" Nala stuttered, looking at him stunned. "Bu-but you…you're supposed to be the King of the Pridelands and…and…"

Simba laughed. "I'd rather be rogue with no Pride as long as I can spend the rest of my life with you. Nala I love you more than anything! I wish I could follow my responsibilities and my happiness but my father will never let me. Responsibility and happiness just don't come together for us. I want to be happy! And my happiness is with you."

"How about the kingdom?" Nala asked.

"Akila will take over." Simba said. "He was trained for this."

"Nala!" Simba and Nala heard a cry in the distance. It sounded like Sarafina.

"We don't have much time." Simba said. "You have to decide now. "

This was the biggest decision that Nala had ever made. If she left, she would have thrown away everything her parents had done for and ever wanted. Everything from raising her from a newborn all the way until know would have all been a waste. They would lose their only daughter. Runju would lose his land as well. She felt her throat tightening. They would be heartbroken if she left.

But Nala was sure of one thing. She wanted to be happy.

"Alright let's go!" Nala said and Simba smiled and gave her cheek a lick before leading the way into the Outlands.

Nala took another look at her home and Riverside in the far distance. She couldn't explain the happy memories this place held. How many moments she had treasured here. But as long as she held them dear in her heart they would always be with her.

"_Mother..Father…I'm sorry but I want to be happy for the rest of my life."_ Nala thought. _"Goodbye…I hope I can see you again someday."_

Her heart felt heavy with the sadness of leaving her home and probably never returning but her spirits were high as she thought of the future she would have with the lion she loved.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

Meanwhile, Sarafina was panicking. She had come back to see that Nala wasn't in the den and after looking around nearby she realized that she wasn't anywhere near Riverside either. How had she gone so fast? Where had she gone? And how was she going to tell Runju?

"Mom!" Mheetu ran into the den with Hofu. Both of them were laughing. "Wanna know what happened?" Runju was behind them and he stopped and stared at Sarafina's face and then looked around for Nala.

"Where's Nala?" Hofu asked.

"Wasn't she with you Mom?" Mheetu asked.

"Sarafina," Runju asked. "What happened?"

"I only left for a minute to go to the river but when I came back Nala was gone!" Sarafina cried, shaking her head.

"You weren't supposed to leave her alone!" Runju shouted.

"Runju she couldn't have gone so far. Where does she have to go?" Sarafina exclaimed.

"Sarafina go organize the rest of the Pride into search parties. I'm going to go look for myself." Runju growled and stormed out of the den.

Runju scouted the River Pride territory for a few hours searching for Nala but there was use. She wasn't there. He knew that she wouldn't have gone back into the Pridelands either. As far as Mufasa was concerned, Nala had left because she was loyal to him and Mufasa would see her as a traitor if she came back.

"_When I find you,"_ Runju thought. _"I will punish you so badly that you will never forget it."_

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

The next morning, Tama, Shari and Kula left the den quite early.

"What do you think made Nala go back on purpose without even telling us?" Tama asked.

"She probably thought it was for the best." Shari sighed sadly. "She did it for all of us. Runju won't wage war now and she probably talked her father into letting us stay here."

"That wasn't fair for her!" Kula exclaimed. "I want to rip Runju into pieces myself."

They walked down past the Waterhole, all three of them observing the silence and taking time to think.

"Tama? Shari? Kula?" Mufasa came up to them. "Can I talk to you three?"

"Sure," Tama nodded. "Is it about Nala?" The four of them continued walking. 

"Yes it is,." Mufasa said. "Do you know what would have made her gone back in the first place?"

Kula sighed. "She probably did it for the best. Now Runju won't wage war and she probably talked her father into letting the three of us stay."

"I thought that Nala came here to get away from her father though." Mufasa said.  
"Yeah she did." Shari said. "But we never expected Runju to find out."

"She-" Mufasa began but was cut off by a growl from someone. The four of them whipped around to see two male lions and a couple lionesses appearing. All of them were cornering in on them, growling and snarling.  
"Asante!" Tama gasped, remembering the descriptions that Nala had given her and the few times he had come to Riverside.

"Well done you three!" Asante nodded. "Just like we planned."

"What are you talking about?" Kula demanded. "We didn't plan anything with you!"

"Traitors!" Mufasa growled at them. "I was a fool to think that we could ever mix with the River Pride!" He was panicking now, knowing he couldn't win the fight with all of them. Kula, Tama and Shari were on Asante's side.

"You don't have to act anymore." Asante's son, Saji said. "We're here, you're safe now. Runju gave us the orders to push our plans ahead."

"Now that we're here." Asante growled whipping his head towards Mufasa. "Finish him off!" Asante had been hoping to attack Simba and he had mistaken Mufasa for Simba from the distance. But he wasn't about to kill Mufasa. All he wanted was to make it look like Runju had set this all up, although Runju didn't even know what they were doing. Then there was no way that Simba would have a soft spot for Nala, ensuring her security with Thresh. As for Runju, he would really have no choice. It wouldn't be a big deal since the River Pride and the Pridelanders were rivals and it would ensure to him that his daughter wouldn't return to the Pridelands. And if Runju didn't like it, he still wouldn't have a choice since he needed the land from Asante. And if Mufasa ever tried to get revenge on them, he wouldn't stand a chance against his and Runju's Pride either. It worked out perfectly for him.

Asante's Pride lunged at Mufasa and he fought back as well as he could but there were too many. Tama, Kula, and Shari, once they got out of their state of shocked began fighting back to help Mufasa. Despite the fact that they were some of the best fighters in the Pride, there were too many from Asante's side and his son alone could take on all three of them with ease.

Out of the corner of Shari's eye she saw Mufasa charging towards the gorge with the rest of the Pride.

"Let's go the other way!" Shari panted. "We can take them by surprise!" Her aching legs carried her to the other side of the gorge with Tama and Shari on the other side. By the time they got there, they realized that they had missed most of the action in the gorge. She saw Mufasa limping back towards Priderock and she wondered how he could have gotten out of the attack alive. Peering down at the gorge, she saw Asante's Pride gathering back up to leave.

"They're leaving." Tama breathed. "But what was he talking about? As much as Runju has made bad decisions, I doubt he sent in attackers."

"Same," Kula nodded. "Something's not right."

"We have a bigger problem right now." Shari said. "Mufasa thinks Runju sent us in as spies. He will never be allowed to return to Priderock."

"We have to try." Tama said. "Maybe if I can talk to Moraan or…"

"I doubt it's going to work." Kula sighed. "But let's go and try after everything settles down."

About an hour later, the three lionesses began making their way back to Priderock. As they neared the majestic rock, most of the animals were already there with the entire Pride behind Mufasa at the top of Priderock. Their friends were at the front.

Mufasa growled glaring down at them. "Give me one good reason as to why you three have the nerve to return!"

"You don't understand." Tama began. "We had nothing to do with those attacks. We were just as shocked as you were."

"I don't know why King Asante attacked and neither do I know if Runju gave him those orders." Kula said. "But we had nothing to do with it."

Mufasa snarled. "Typical River Pride lionesses! As the King, I pass your belonging here! I was a fool to ever think that we could ever come to terms with those Riverside filths!"

Mufasa turned back to his Pride. "Listen to my words! From now on we will have absolutely no contact with the River Pride! If anyone is to do so they will be exiled!"

Shari caught the eyes of their friends who were straining their necks to look at them. They looked shocked and she couldn't tell if they were angry or not. Maybe because they were able to put their differences aside, they could convince Mufasa but she doubted it.

Mufasa turned back to them. ''Exile!"

Kula wanted to cry as all the animals closed in on them, driving them away from Priderock. Rhinos pushed them back and elephants stomped near them to drive them further down Priderock. Once they were at the foot of Priderock birds began dropping stones down on them and they began to run towards the border.

The three of them only had time to briefly glance at what they wanted to call their home before turning and fleeing.

**Thought this was a good place to stop. To be honest, I really think this chapter has been written really badly and I'm not proud of it either. I'll make the next one better, I promise.**

**Anyways, so we have good news that Simba and Nala ran away together but that caused more problems in the River Pride. Asante revealed his plan and unfortunately got Kula, Tama and Shari exiled. Will they go back to the River Pride? Or will they also run away? And what will Runju do if he ever catches Nala and Simba? And we will see Mufasa's reaction to Simba running away next chapter or maybe the one after. Anyways, as always stay tuned to find out more!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Guys, I don't know how much I can stress the fact that I am trying to update more regularity but it's been tough. I have so much to do that I barely have time for myself. Sorry for such long delays. Anyway, here's chapter thirteen and please review. **

**Thanks to the following reviewers:**

**BlackLouie: Yes I would want to be with them too. As for Simba and Nala getting in trouble you'll have to keep reading to find out LOL. Thanks so much for reviewing and I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Doclover: I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. I hope you enjoy this one as well and thank you for reviewing. **

**Balto90: Yes it does. Darkness always seems to be where we can't see. Thanks for reviewing and enjoy the chapter. **

**AMBER: You'll have to keep reading to see Mufasa's reaction about the two of them running away. Right now he just thinks that Simba has isolated himself from the Pride for a while to cope with his grief and that Nala is with her father. Same thing for Runju and how Simba and Nala survive the Outlands. You'll just have to keep reading****. As for the questions about It Never Really Ends, those will be answered in the next chapter. Thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter. **

**Nala's fan: LOL I tried to make it as romantic as I could. Yes I feel bad for Tama, Shari and Kula too. Thanks for reviewing and I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

**pirate22: Yeah maybe they will, maybe they won't ;). You'll just have to keep reading to find out. Thank you for the review and I hope you like this chapter. **

**TMNTMentalistTLK lover: Yup, that damn Asante. He caused a bunch of problems. I doubt Runju would attack Nala or maybe he will. Maybe Sarafina will stop him. You'll just have to keep reading to find out. And we all know that no matter what, Simba will always protect Nala at any cost. (Hint: How much will he sacrifice to protect her? ;) ). Thanks for the review and I hope that you like this chapter. **

**Asaf: Yup, Simba's friends believe Kula, Tama, and Shari. It's mentioned in this chapter. (Woops, sorry if I spoiled it for you.). But anyways, thanks for reviewing and enjoy the chapter. **

**ThatTexasKid: Yeah I guess they do LOL. I'm really glad that they ran away together as well. Yup I think we all hate Asante as he did create a bunch of problems. Let's not forget that Runju and Mufasa are doing what they think is the best for their children just like any parent would. And thanks! I didn't think the chapter was good enough to be called phenomenal LOL. Thank you so much for the review and I hope that you will enjoy this chapter as well. **

The next day at Priderock, Mufasa was in quite a bad mood. Sarabi was leading the hunting party and making some rounds around the Pridelands since Mufasa wasn't up to do it. Akila had sprained his paw on the patrol two days earlier and wasn't having an easy time walking therefore he couldn't either.

This left Akila to deal with his father.

"Dad," Akila was trying to say. "Come on, you have to pull everything together. Simba had been missing for a day and-"

"Don't remind me of Simba!" Mufasa growled. "He was the one who started this all!"

"You can yell at him later. But right now we have to find him." Akila said. He knew about his brother's feelings for Nala and he figured that he had taken in quite hard and had decided to be alone for a while. But right now Akila needed Simba to help him with their father.

"He was the one who talked me into accepting Nala! I was such a fool! All she did was cause problems and then leave! Her friends helped Runju and Asante attack me! It was all just a big set up! Why was I so foolish?" Mufasa hissed.

Although Akila nodded, he had a good hunch that Nala, Tama, Shari and Kula weren't responsible for any of this. He knew that his friends knew as well. Mufasa and the rest of the adults only blamed them because they had a hard time overlooking the rivalry between the prides. He had no idea why Nala left but he was sure that Tama, Kula and Shari had tried to help Mufasa during the attack. He had to find them and figure it all out.

Knowing that he couldn't talk some sense into his father, he exited the royal den only to bump into Moraan, Chumvi and Amri. All of them had sullen looks on their faces.

"Are you three serious!?" Akila exclaimed. "I need your help and those looks are only going to make things worse."

"Well it wasn't your lioness that was driven out of the Pridelands for no reason!" Chumvi snapped. "I couldn't even talk to Kula. My parents wouldn't let me leave Priderock! Now she's gone and probably thinks that I hate her too!"

"Same goes for Tama." Moraan murmured.

"And Shari." Amri added.

"Look," Akila said. "Once Simba returns to Priderock we can sort this out. My father won't help. Simba will. We will get Tama, Kula and Shari back. I promise!"

Amri nodded. "Speaking of Simba, where has he been? I didn't see him yesterday at all."

"Simba had feelings for Nala." Akila said. "They were having an affair when Nala left."

"What?" Moraan exclaimed. "He was cheating on Ariya?"

"I guess," Akila said. "But I don't blame him though. You know how Ariya is." 

"So you think he took it so hard that he hasn't been back to Priderock for a day and a half?" Chumvi asked and Akila nodded.

"Alright then," Moraan nodded. "I'll get Alex and Tojo then we can start searching."

After searching for a few hours, Akila and the others had no luck.

"This is really starting to annoy me." Akila growled. "First he disappears on his first hunt. Now he's just hiding somewhere in the Pridelands while we need more help than ever at home! He didn't even come back when our father got ambushed by Asante."

"He'll come back when he feels like it." Alex said, shaking his head. "Although this is more dramatic than usual, but maybe he's hurting too much from Nala's departure"

"Do you think we could find a way to send a messenger into the River Pride territory?" Tojo asked. "I'm pretty sure Nala would help us if she can."

"That might help." Akila said. "Although my father would be furious, we just have to find a way to send one without my father knowing. I'm going to scout the Pridelands for one."

"Do you need help?" Moraan asked.

"No," Akila said. "Just tell my mother that I'm doing some stuff for my father and tell Malaika what I'm really doing though. I haven't seen her all day." The other males nodded and Akila headed off.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

Back at Riverside, Tama, Kula and Shari had returned and they were now waiting for Runju to determine whether they could stay again or not. The three of them didn't mind if he refused though; they had to leave a few months anyways.

All three of them had been surprised to see that Nala was missing…again and that no one knew where she had gone. But all three of them had a good hunch that she had ran away and the rest of the Pride did as well.

Now the three lionesses were looking at their King with a mix of anger and fear in their eyes as they waited for his final decision.

"Why did you come back?" Runju asked.

"Our parents wanted us back." Tama said.

"That's all?" Runju asked, looking at them suspiciously.

Kula sighed. "Yesterday we were talking with Mufasa when all of a sudden the lions from the Eastern Pride attacked us. They acted like we were part of their plan and said that you set orders for your plan to be pushed ahead. Did you really set up the attack?"

"What?" Runju demanded. "No! He said that it was my idea?!"

"Yes." Shari nodded. "Mufasa survived the attack and then exiled us believing that the River Pride was working with Eastern Pride to bring him down."

Runju let out a roar of fury. "That bastard! Trying to ruin my name! I'm going to confront him right now! The rest of you keep searching for Nala!"

"How about these three?" Sarafina asked, motioning to Shari, Tama and Kula.

Runju gave them a long cold look. "As far as I am concerned, the only punishment I see fit for you three is being exiled from our Pride but your parents are good friends of mine and I want to think about them."

"So…" Kula's voice trailed off.

"You three were due to leave in a few months. I am cutting that down to month and a half. You may stay for one month then you are to leave. Understand?"

The lionesses nodded and Runju stormed away to reach the Eastern Pride.

An hour later, Runju was talking with Asante. 

"Explain to me the meaning of this." Runju growled. "You attacking Mufasa and saying that I was part of it?"

Asante held back a smirk. "I did it for your own good. This will ensure that your daughter never goes back to the Pridelands."

"That was my concern! Not yours!" Runju snapped.

"Don't take it so hard." Asante said. "Mufasa's Pride is too small for you to attack them. Just leave it."

Runju growled. He was torn between waging war on Asante for revenge or leaving it so he could get the land. But if he left it, it would look like he let Asante walk over him and he didn't even know where Nala was to get the land.

He whipped his head back to Asante snarling. "I will not leave this and let you walk over me! Forget about the deal we made and get ready for war!" He stormed off leaving a shocked Asante at the border.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

Back in the Pridelands, Akila returned after sunset to hear his parents arguing in their den. Akila sighed; he had spent his entire day looking for Simba with his slightly injured paw and he had had no luck. He was already tired and frustrated and he didn't want to deal with settling the flames between his mother and father. Usually Simba would be the one to do it but he wasn't here and it only made Akila angrier at his older brother. Why did he seem to be able to get away with everything and still deserve the throne? Akila was the one who had helped when the Pride needed it the most yet he didn't get the throne.

Akila walked into the den to hear Sarabi trying to talk sense into Mufasa.

"You think we can win against both of them?" Sarabi demanded. "It will end up in a massacre of our Pride."

"If worse gets to worse I'll surrender." Mufasa said.

"What're you talking about?" Akila asked, gaining their attention.

"Akila," Sarabi walked up to Akila and nuzzled him, seeing how tired he was. "Sweetheart, everything's fine. You're tired now. Just clean yourself up and get some rest."

"I will Mom." Akila said. "But what were you talking about?"

"I decided on waging war against Runju and Asante." Mufasa said. 

"What?" Akila demanded. "We won't stand a chance."

"Akila listen to me." Mufasa said. "If we let Runju and Asante get away with this attack that means that they will think that we are too scared to fight back. All the other Pride's will hear of this and they will also take advantage of that. They will think that they can also walk over us and we will do nothing. I have to stop this problem before it is created."

"And get half our Pride killed!" Akila snapped.

"Our Pride may be small but we have good fighters and many males despite the lack of females. And two young females did join us during the time that the Riverside lionesses were with us." Mufasa said. "We may not have enough force to kill the others but enough force to show them that they can't kill us."

"And we're missing Simba! He was our best fighter!" Akila exclaimed.  
"When he returns I will be giving him a punishment that he will never forget!" Mufasa growled. "That boy just thinks he can run off whenever he wants and that all his responsibilities will be taken care of by others!"

"So what do we have to do?" Akila asked.

"Start preparing the Pride for war."

**Thought this was a good place to stop. I know there weren't any Simba and Nala in this chapter plus we haven't heard about anything on Ariya for a while but there will be some in the next chapter so please be patient. With regrets I have to say that I have no idea when I am going to be able to update next. It will be probably be quite a while so I'm very sorry. But other than that, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. **


	14. Chapter 14

**Here's chapter fourteen and please review. Reminder that I don't own Lion King, Disney does. **

**Thanks to the following for reviewing:**

**BlackLouie: Perhaps surrendering is a good idea but remember that if they do, all the other Prides are going to think that they can easily walk over them. And don't worry, I will be continuing and finishing this story. Thank you for reviewing and enjoy the chapter. **

**fanfic-lover-10: I'm glad you like my story. It makes me happy. As for Simba and Nala learning about what is going on back at home, you'll just have to wait and see. They may find out or they may not. I know that Runju seems like the bad guy and the real problem, but really he isn't. He just thinks that he doing what's best for Nala. Sure, he made some bad decisions but no one is perfect. Of course, Runju is the bad guy to some degree but if Mufasa was put in his place, I can guarantee that he would do the same things as Runju. But yes, his war decision was a good one. Thanks so much for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

**AMBER: Thanks, I try my best. LOL, no I probably won't be publishing my stories in real life but thank you. It makes me really happy that you think I'm the best author you know here. Thanks for being so patient for the update. I hope you enjoy the chapter. **

**Balto90: Thanks for being so patient. Life really gets busy for me. By the way, it is okay if I use some of the quotes you post in your reviews for my stories? I'll give you the credit for it. Just wondering. Thank you for reviewing and enjoy the chapter. **

**TMNTMentalistTLK lover: Yeah I'm glad as well. He pretty much already turned on him but we'll see how their future will be. Thank you for reviewing and I hope you like this chapter. **

**Doclover: Yeah it's a three way battle now. Thank you for the review and enjoy the chapter. **

**Asaf: Mufasa is attacking Runju because he thinks that he was involved in the attack against him so therefore Runju is also attacking Mufasa. Mufasa is attacking Asante because he was involved in the attack so therefore Asante is attacking Mufasa. Runju is attacking Asante because he blamed his attack on Runju so therefore Asante is also attacking Runju. And another underlying reason for war is because of their children. Mufasa is angry at Runju because he thinks Nala influenced Simba against his better judgement and Runju thinks that Simba influenced Nala against her better judgement. And Asante is angry at Runju for breaking his promise of handing Nala over to marry his son, Thresh. All of this makes it a three way battle. So anyways, thanks for reviewing and I hope you like this chapter. **

While trouble was brewing back at the Pridelands and River Pride territory, Simba and Nala despite the difficult conditions of the Outlands were having the time of their life.

"So since that day," Simba was saying. "Moraan and I never even thought of scaring Shinda again." He had been telling Nala stories of his childhood and growing up to pass the time while they were travelling.

"I would have done the same thing!" Nala chuckled.

Simba grinned. "Seems to run in the family." Nala just shook her head with a smile.

"So how far do you think we have to travel?" Nala asked.

"I think another couple days if we want that land." Simba said.

"Simba we should just find a Pride that's willing to take us in." Nala said. "It's easier living in big Prides. We can tell them a different name for us in case our father's look for us."

"You have a point." Simba said. "But I want to rule a territory of my own."

Nala felt a pang of guilt. She knew that Simba at least wanted to have land of his own like he would have if he had still been the heir. He had already given up so much for her and she couldn't let him give up anything else.

Simba immediately noticed Nala's face. "Hey," Simba pulled her in closer and rubbed his muzzle against hers. "I don't regret giving up the throne for you. Don't ever forget that."

"I know," Nala said, giving his nose a lick as they pulled back. "Let's go find that land."

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

Back at Riverside it was chaos as everyone had heard that Runju had waged war on Asante and that Mufasa had waged war on them.

"They can't do this." Kula hissed to her friends. "The Pridelanders have no chance of winning. Especially since its Pride's fighting each other."

"Then we have to fight with the Pridelanders." Shari said. "It's the only way to show them that we are loyal to them not to Runju."

"You think that will convince Mufasa?" Tama asked.

"It should." Shari replied. "And once we leave this Pride under Runju's consent we can go back into the Pridelands. Runju and our parents will have no power to argue with that."

"You're right." Kula said. "But what about Nala?"

Tama sighed. "She probably ran away to get away from Runju and Thresh. If we aren't accepted back into the Pridelands we can go find her."

Suddenly a new though hit Shari. "Wait." Shari said. "The day that Mufasa got attacked, Simba wasn't there."

"He wasn't was he?" Kula said.

"He wasn't there when we got exiled." Shari said slowly. "Nala had already run away when we were still in the Pridelands. Both of them were gone."

"Wait," Tama said. "You think that they went together? Why?"

Shari glanced at her friends. "Well…while all four of us were part of Mufasa's Pride…I found out that Simba and Nala were having an affair."

Kula's jaw dropped open. "What? How do you know?"

"I saw them and when I asked Nala she told me but she also made me promise not to tell anyone until she and Simba told his father."

"Then it all makes sense." Tama said shaking her head. "They ran away together."

"Then we have to find them." Kula said. "They're the only ones who have a chance at stopping this war."

"There's no way we could do that." Shari said. "We have no idea where they went and even if we did, it would take days to catch up to them."

"Then what're we going to do?" Kula demanded. "Without Simba and Nala to stop this?"

Tama sighed. "We're just going to have to fight with Mufasa's Pride and hope that we can help them have a chance of winning."

"Alright then." Shari said. "When the battle begins we'll switch sides." Nodding in agreement, the three lionesses went to join the rest of the Pride listening to Runju's plans about the upcoming battle.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

Back in the Pridelands, Akila returned back to Priderock after another unsuccessful search for Simba. He was getting quite angry at Simba but at the same time he was worried about his brother. Everyone had seemed to have forgotten about Simba in the plans for war.

Akila climbed the last rock to Priderock with his paws aching. He wanted to go take a nap but everyone was too loud in the den. All the cubs were confined to Priderock until the battle had passed and he didn't want to be in the den while all the cubs were running around and making noise.

"Akila?" Malaika walked out of the den.

Akila smiled and pulled her in closer. Purring, Malaika buried her face into his mane and Akila licked the top of her head. He was glad to see her. It had been so chaotic for the past couple days that they had barely had even seen one another.

"Where have you been?" Malaika asked.

"I was looking for Simba." Akila said. "I'm still not having any luck."

Malaika gave him a nuzzle, trying to comfort him. She knew how close Akila was with his brother and knew how worried he was without Simba. The two of them always had each other's back and always knew what the other one was thinking. She wished that she could understand their relationship. She loved her older half-sisters but she knew that they would never care for her the way they cared for each other. That would never change. She knew that even for Tojo, his first priority was Shinda and Shani.

Although she had figured out that Nala was her cousin. Her mother had told her and it had somehow slipped to Shani and Tojo who had told Shinda. It had only taken them a week to see them hanging around and talking like siblings. She could tell that Shani, Shinda and Tojo loved Nala like she was a full sister to them.

Malaika sighed silently; why they didn't care for her like that she would never understand.

"What's on your mind?" Akila nudged her with his nose and Malaika snapped out of her thoughts.

"Nothing." Malaika said. "So what are the plans for the battle?"

"We're going to need good defense." Akila said. "We're not going out to show that we can kill them but that we can fight back if we need to."

"That's good." Malaika said. "With a three way battle it is tough."

"Akila," Mufasa walked out of the den. "Sorry to interrupt you two but I have to talk with you."

"It's fine." Malaika said as Akila sent her an apologetic look. "I'll see you later."

Akila followed Mufasa a little way off. "What do we have to talk about?"

"You know Simba's been missing." Mufasa began. "And I suppose your brother told you about his feelings for Nala."

"Yeah," Akila said. "What about that?"

"I think they ran away together." Mufasa said.

"What?" Akila exclaimed. "No! He wouldn't just leave like that! He didn't even tell anyone!"

"I'm afraid he did." Mufasa said. "You know the things he does."

"But…we need Simba…he's the heir and-" Akila was cut off.

"No son." Mufasa said. "Simba isn't fit to be King. If he ever returns, I will never accept him back."

"But why?" Akila asked.

"He threw away everything we did for him." Mufasa hissed. "Every single thing that we ever did for him, everything that we ever wanted for him…he threw all of that away when he made his choice."

"So does that mean I'm the next King?" Akila asked nervously.

"Yes it is." Mufasa said. "Simba will never be allowed in the Pridelands again. He ran away with Runju's daughter of all lionesses!"

"But…" Akila couldn't find his words.

"Meanwhile," Mufasa said. "I got news from the Eastern Pride and the River Pride. They are also at war. It will be a three way battle."

"When is it?" Akila asked.

"I don't know," Mufasa admitted. "I suppose they will just come at us and then we'll go as well."

Akila nodded and the two of them headed back into the den. Neither of them was aware that Ariya had been listening to the entire conversation.

"No," Ariya breathed. "This can't be happening." She gritted her teeth in anger. Simba had run away with Nala!

"I knew I should have gotten rid of her the day she came." Ariya growled to herself. "Now what am I supposed to do?"

Suddenly, a new plan hatched in her mind. Perhaps it wouldn't neccasararily get her and Rojan to the throne…but it would still work. It was different but it was better than nothing.

"I have to find Rojan first." Ariya murmured and headed off to find him.

TLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLKTLK

Meanwhile, Shinda and her siblings had gotten themselves into a bit of a mess. Their mother had left Shinda in charge of Zuri and Anjani however Shinda being the stubborn one hadn't watched them properly and when Malaika had returned to the den Shinda had been taking a good nap while Zuri and Anjani were nowhere to be seen.

"Why are you so…so...irresponsible?" Malaika growled at Shinda as they were scouring Priderock hoping to find the twins. "Was it that hard to watch them?"

"They're your sisters!" Shinda snapped. "If you love them so much why don't you just watch them yourself?"

"That won't work with Mom when she comes back." Malaika nearly shouted. "We're at war with two Pride's so there's potential danger everywhere and you let them go!"

"I fell asleep." Shinda hissed gritting her teeth together. "I was tired."

Malaika squeezed her eyes shut. "You probably wanted this Shinda. You wanted to break up our family. Mom, the twins, my father and I. You want that."

"Have you been talking to Mom again?" Shinda snapped. "And no! What happened was a mistake! I was tired and I fell asleep. And _our _family? Mom, you, the twins and Hariku huh? So I guess Tojo, Shani and I aren't considered your family! 

"You've always pushed me away Shinda!" Malaika cried. "Ever since we were young you showed me that I'm not as important as Shani and Tojo!" She could remember there times from when they had been young cubs.

_Flashback_

"_Shani where you going?" Malaika asked, her emerald green eyes sparkling with energy. _

"_Shhh," Shani hissed. "I'm going to find Tojo and Shinda. Don't wake Mom or Hariku up!" Malaika was still nestled between Kudeka's paws and Kudeka's head was on top of Malaika, ensuring that she was nice and warm during the night. _

"_I wanna come too!" Malaika giggled, and slowly pulled herself out of her mother's paws. _

"_Alright." Shani said. "Come on then."_

_Shinda and Tojo were waiting for them at the base of Priderock. Shani ran up and nuzzled her older brother and sister. Malaika nudged her head against Shinda and Tojo but they only gave her a nod.  
"What took you so long Shani?" Tojo asked. "Simba and Alex already left."_

"_I fell asleep." Shani shrugged. "And Malaika wanted to come too."_

"_Who cares?" Shinda said. "I'll show you what we found." She pointed to an entrance to a tiny cave that was big enough for three cubs._

"_Let's go!" Shani squealed and ran inside. Tojo and Shinda ran after her and Malaika followed. But when she got there, Malaika realized that there was no space left. _

"_Wait," Malaika said. "What about me?"_

"_There's no space." Shinda said. "You can see it later when we're done."_

"_But I wanna come with you now!" Malaika whined. _

"_It's only a really weird looking bug stuck in a rock. Simba's mom said it was called a fossil." Tojo said. "You can see it later."_

"_But that's not fair!" Malaika said, her eyes tearing up. Why couldn't she go with them as well?_

"_Malaika's crying!" Shinda giggled. Malaika glared at her through teary eyes. Shinda, no matter who it was loved teasing other cubs. It didn't matter whether it was her siblings or not. She loved teasing others. _

_Malaika turned and trotted as fast as she could back to the den. She wanted to be with her parents right now. Just as she was about to enter the den, Kudeka walked out and Malaika ran right into her mother. _

"_Malaika?" Kudeka asked. "What are you going out her alone? Where are Shani, Shinda and Tojo? And why are you crying?"_

"_I-I-I wanted to see it-it-it too-but-but Shinda and-and-and Tojo said-said later and-and…" Malaika managed to get out in between sobs and hiccups._

"_Shhh," Kudeka pulled her in closer and licked the top of her head. "What happened? Where are Tojo, Shani and Shinda?"_

_Malaika led her to the tiny cave that had the fossil that Tojo had told everyone about. Kudeka took one look at the cave and then at Malaika and figured out what happened. _

"_Alright you three," Kudeka said. "Come here."_

"_Mom?" Tojo stuck his head out of the cave and his eyes widened knowing they were in trouble. He and Shinda came out of the cave with both of them dragging Shani who had become very interested in the fossil. _

"_Hi Mom!" Shani gave their mother a wide toothy grin. _

"_Why are you three out of the den so early?" Kudeka asked, narrowing her eyes. _

"_There was a fossil Mom." Tojo said. "I wanted to show it to Shinda and Shani."_

"_You know you're not allowed to leave so early." Kudeka said. "And why's Malaika crying?"_

"_There wasn't enough space in the crevice so I told her to wait until we were done. She didn't have to cry for that." Shinda said. _

_Kudeka narrowed her eyes. "Shinda…how many times are we going to talk about this?" She motioned for Shinda to come aside with her. Malaika couldn't hear what they were saying but she saw Kudeka looking at Shinda angrily but Shinda just glared right back at her. Malaika wondered why Shinda wasn't scared of their mother. _

_Kudeka motioned for all of them to come.  
"Shinda," Kudeka said. "You are confined to Priderock for three days."_

"_But Mom!'' Shinda cried. ''The lionesses said that we could watch them hunt for the first time today! I want to go!"_

"_That's your punishment and don't argue with me." Kudeka said and walked ahead of her cubs._

_Once Kudeka was out of earshot Shinda whirled towards Malaika. _

"_This is all your fault!" Shinda snapped. _

"_But...but you wouldn't let me come in so I-"Malaika was cut off._

"_You told Mom." Shinda rolled her eyes. "You are such a tattle tale!"_

"_Uhhh," Tojo said. "Shani let's go play with Alex and Akila."_

"_I'm going to find Ariya." Shinda said and headed into the den. Malaika tried following her but Shinda whirled back. _

"_Don't follow me! I don't want you with me!" Shinda snapped and stormed into the den._

_(End of flashback)_

Malaika's heart broke at the memory. Shinda had been the one to make Shani understand that they weren't full blood siblings. Of course, Tojo had helped her but it had mostly been Shinda. They could have been a family but they hadn't because of Shinda.

To Malaika, Zuri and Anjani were the only siblings she really had. Anger boiled up in her as she looked at Shinda.

''If anything has happened to them," Malaika snarled. "I will rip you into pieces!"

"You're going to have to go me first Malaika." Tojo said, coming up to them along with Shani.

"It's not all her fault either." Shani said. "Zuri and Anjani should have known better than to leave."

''You three are no help.'' Malaika snapped. "I'll find them myself."

"What's going on here?" Kudeka came onto the scene with. "We went into the den but Zuri and Anjani weren't there. Where are they?"

There was silence from the four.

"Shinda," Kudeka turned to her oldest daughter. "What happened?"

"I fell asleep." Shinda said. "And when Malaika woke me up, they were gone."

Kudeka's eyes went wide. "What were you thinking? This is the most dangerous time to let cubs out and you let them wander off?"

"I fell asleep," Shinda hissed. "I tried telling you that before you left but you didn't listen. We've been looking for about three hours."

There was burning anger in Kudeka's eyes as she looked at Shinda. Shinda felt herself getting equally angry. She was tired of this! Every time something went on, it always ended up as an argument between Shinda and Kudeka. No matter what it was.

Shinda opened her mouth to talk but before she could, she Kudeka struck her hard against the side of her face. Gasping from the impact of the blow, Shinda collapsed ono the ground. Shani and Tojo were immediately at her side, helping her up but Shinda stared at her mother in disbelief.

This had never happened.

Kudeka had never struck them before. Even Malaika was staring at their mother with wide eyes.

"If anything has happened to them Shinda." Kudeka growled. "This will be the last time I ever look at you." She turned around to start looking for them but Hariku's voice called out for them.

"Kudeka! It's alright I found them." Hariku walked out of the den with a nervous looking Zuri and Anjani following them. Malaika's eyes filled with relief and she nuzzled her younger sisters.

Shinda got up and looked at the five of them. Seeing Hariku with them only made her heart ache for her own father. Why had he left the?

"Let's go," Tojo said and led his sisters away from their so called mother and her family.

**I decided to stop here. The next part will be about the battle and I don't want to split the battle into the two chapters. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and please review. **


End file.
